Soul Society and the Living World
by Ryou's 01 Fan
Summary: Renji, Ganju, and Hitsugaya from Soul Society come to the Living World. Things happen and they are forced to stay in the Living World for awhile. Someone gets a job at a Pizza place, A Spring Dance is near, Hitsugaya gets a detention, and more! Ch.12 up!
1. Chapter 1

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story. After watching all 88 episodes available I decided to write a story with my favorite characters! D_

**Characters**: Ichigo Kurosaki, Kon (the stuffed lion animal), his dad, Isshin, his two sisters Yuzu and Karin, Rukia Kuchiki, Ganju Shiba, Renji Abarai, and Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

**Note:** When Kon says "Nee-san" he means Rukia and also this is before the Bount Arc so Nova, Cloud, and Ririn are not in this story. Sorry if anyone wanted them in it.

**Chapter 1: **The Day That Started Out Normal

**Sunday….7 a.m.**

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ahhh…..," Ichigo groaned. He had forgotten to turn off his alarm. He slowly got up and turned it off.

"HEY PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" Kon yelled from below. He was on the floor as usual, just lying down face up. Ichigo looked down at him.

"Oh?" he said stepping on Kon to walk towards the closet. Kon jumped up.

"OWWW! ICHIGO YOU MEANIE! STUFFED ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS TOO! JUST WAIT ONE DAY I WILL TAKE NEE-SAN AND ESCAPE FROM THIS TORTUROUS HOUSE," Kon said yelling.

"Shut up. You're too loud. Do you want me to take you to Yuzu's room?" Ichigo said grinning. This immediately shut him up. The last time Ichigo sent him to Yuzu's room he had come out looking like a clown with all the makeup and clothes Yuzu had put on him. He did not want to repeat the event.

"That's better. Hey Rukia," he said knocking on the closet door, "I will bring breakfast after I'm done."

"Ok," she replied. Rukia opened the closet door. She was wearing her usual white dress with blue flowers at the bottom.

"NEE-SAN," Kon yelled jumping toward her for a hug. SMASH! Ichigo had punched Kon to the ground.

"I will be right back," Ichigo said as he lifted his fist from Kon's face and headed out the door.

**Breakfast**

"ICHIGO!" his father crashing into Ichigo from behind. They both fell to the ground. Isshin stood up and pointed to his son. "Ahahahaha," he said, "You are still weak, Ichigo."

"What the hell is wrong you," Ichigo exclaimed. He got up. "You want to see who's weak?" They both started fighting again like they always did every morning.

"Dad. Oniichan," Yuzu said. "Breakfast is ready."

"Leave them alone Yuzu. They never stop fighting. This just means more pancakes for us," Karin said. She was used to this morning routine of theirs. Ichigo and his father stopped their fighting and sat down to eat.

"Ah. Karin. Yuzu. Remember to pack your bags today. It's Summer Camp Fun Time. We will happily drive there, where we will spend quality time together! A daughters and father bond looking at the mountains and..." Isshin was interrupted by Karin punching her dad in the head.

"We get it already! How can you be so excited this early in the morning?" Karin replied.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you guys were going there again this summer. What time are you going?" Ichigo asked with his mouth full of pancakes.

"In 2 more hours. I can't wait to see Miki again," Yuzu said happily. Miki was the camp owner's orange cat. It reminded her so much of her brother that sometimes it felt he was there with her too.

"Ah," Ichigo said.

**BUMP. BUMP. BUMP.**

"What was that," Karin said looking at the ceiling. "It sounds like it came from your room Ichigo."

"Ah…ahahahaha….something must have fallen. I'll be right back," Ichigo said.

_Rukia. Kon. What are you doing to my room? Ichigo thought._

Ichigo hurriedly went upstairs and opened the door to his room. On the floor was……………..

* * *

Well that's the first chappie. Sorry if it was short. The other chappie's will be longer. I have to go to choir now hehehe……please review. Don't worry...chappies get better. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story. I also don't own Rice Krispies Cereal.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Chapter 2: **The Unexpected Visitor

Where we last left off...

BUMP! BUMP! BUMP!

"What was that?" Karin said looking at the ceiling. "It sounds like it came from your room Ichigo."

"Ahhh…ahahahaha….something must have fallen. I'll be right back," Ichigo said.

_Rukia. Kon. What are you doing to my room? Ichigo thought._

Ichigo hurriedly went upstairs and opened the door to his room. On the floor was…Renji!

Rukia was next to him, looking surprised.

"Renji? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked him. Before he could say anything else, they all heard someone coming up the stairs.

"Oniichan! What was it?" Yuzu called out from the hall.

_Yuzu! Ichigo thought_. Without saying a word, he quickly grabbed Rukia and Renji. He pushed them into the closet and closed the door.

"Oniichan!" Yuzu said again. She had entered Ichigo's room and was looking at her brother who was in front of the closet. "What's going on?"

"Ah. Nothing. Something just fell from my closet that's all," Ichigo said patting the closet door. "Well let's finish breakfast."

"Oh, Okay," Yuzu said leaving his room and heading downstairs.

"Don't come out till I come back okay?" Ichigo whispered at the closet. He left his room and went back to finishing his breakfast. _What is Renji thinking? Ichigo thought. _After breakfast was over, his sisters had brought their suitcases downstairs. They were going to be gone for two weeks so they had packed many things.

"Well we are leaving early Ichigo!" His dad told him.

"Bye Oniichan!" Yuzu said hugging Ichigo. "Take care of my stuffed animals!"

"Bye Ichigo! See ya in two weeks," Karin said.

"Ok. Have fun guys," Ichigo told them as his family was getting in their blue car.

"Don't mess up the house! Ahahahahaha. I'll be back tomorrow," His dad said and with that they drove away. When Ichigo couldn't see the blue car anymore, he closed the front door, and rushed upstairs to his room. He opened the closet door and out came tumbling Renji and Rukia.

"BAKA!" Rukia yelled at Ichigo. "Only one person can fit in that closet Ichigo!"

"Oww…..my leg!" Renji said holding his leg.

"Your leg?" Rukia said. "I couldn't breathe with you on top of me!"

"Nee-san!" Kon said running towards her. "Let me comfort you." Before he could reach Rukia, Ichigo picked him up and tossed him aside.

"Oww!" Kon yelled since he had landed on the ground.

"Renji. What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked him. "How did you get in?"

"The window," Renji said standing up. "If it was bigger, I would have gotten in easier."

"Did Nii-sama sent you here?" Rukia asked.

"Naw….I just wanted to come see how Ichigo was doing," Renji said grinning towards Ichigo.

"Ha! You need my help again Renji?" Ichigo replied grinning back.

"As if! You are the one who needs help. You can't even control your spiritual energy. Always spilling it out. Anyone can find you easily," Renji said.

"Shut up," Ichigo yelled at him.

"You shut up!" Renji yelled back.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Kon said yelling. "I have sensitive ears you know!"

"Uh…." They all said looking at him.

"This can't be happening," Ichigo said sitting down on his bed.

"Nice room," Renji said looking around. "So……where am I staying?"

"WHAT!" Ichigo said getting back up. "What do you mean 'where am I staying'? Are you crazy? My Dad will be here tomorrow after he has dropped of Yuzu and Karin at Camp!"

"So? I can just stay the night and leave before he even comes," Renji said.

"True," Rukia said nodding.

"Ahh…..I guess you could do that. There's my dad's room next door. You can stay there," Ichigo said.

"Great. Now I have to deal with both of you!" Kon said pointing at Ichigo and Renji.

"Hey Ichigo. Can I have breakfast now?" Rukia said.

"Ah…me too," Renji said. "I forgot to eat before I left."

"Come on. Let's go downstairs," Ichigo said to them. Renji and Rukia followed.

"Wait! Me three! I'm…" Kon started to say when the door closed on his face. "I'm hungry too!"

**Downstairs in the kitchen…**

"Let's see," Ichigo said as he was looking for food to give Rukia and Renji. They, Rukia and Renji, were sitting at the table across from each other. "Here, I have Rice Krispies or bagels. We kinda ate all the pancakes today."

"Ha! I bet you ate them all," Renji said.

"Shut up," Ichigo said.

"I'll eat this I guess," Renji said taking the Rice Krispies cereal. He got the cereal and poured some into his bowl. Then he grabbed the gallon of milk on the table and poured some on the bowl.

_**Snap. Crackle. Pop.**_

"Ohhhh! Look Rukia. This cereal makes noise!" Renji said putting his ear close to the cereal.

_**Snap. Crackle. Pop.**_

"Really? I never tried this one before," Rukia said. She got the cereal and poured some on her bowl as well. As she was pouring the milk on top, she could hear the popping noises.

_**Snap. Crackle. Pop.**_

"Hmm…..it's good," Rukia said tasting the cereal.

"Yaw," Renji said with his mouth full. "So Ichigo. What are we doing today huh? What do you do for fun anyway?

"Well let's see…..fighting Hollows…..going to school……SCHOOL!" Ichigo said. "Aww…I forgot I have an essay due Monday."

"Ahahahaha…you have homework!" Renji laughed.

"Shut up Renji," Ichigo said. "Come on, finish up already. We have to go to the library to get a book. Hey Rukia, did you do yours already?"

"Yeah. Inoue and I finished it in study hall," Rukia said. "Well I'm done." Rukia put her bowl in the sink.

"Yeah, me too," Renji said.

"Okay. Let's go," Ichigo said heading towards the door.

"Wait Ichigo!" Rukia said. "Renji can't walk around town looking like that." Ichigo turned and looked at Renji. He had forgotten the he was still wearing his black kimono, black pants, and sandals.

"Oh yeah," Ichigo said.

"Don't worry. I was reading this magazine and know exactly what he needs to blend in," Rukia said. She grabbed Renji and led him to the bathroom. Then she got a bag with clothes inside and gave them to Renji.

"Put these on," Rukia said. Renji closed the door. A few minutes later he came out.

"Ahhh….." Ichigo said. Renji was wearing black jeans, a light pink shirt and a blue jacket.

"See? Dark colors and light colors create a very nice image," Rukia said looking pleased with herself.

"Whatever. Let's go," Ichigo said. They left the house and walked to the nearest library. Inside the library, the walls were painted a light brown and the carpet was light blue. The walls were covered with shelves full of books.

"Wow. I've never seen so many books," Renji said looking around. Rukia started looking at the magazines. She was already having a hard time whether she should check out People Magazine or Teen People. Ahhh…life was hard sometimes.

Finally Ichigo had found the book he needed. He turned around and found that both of his friends weren't there anymore. Ichigo sighed. _Rukia is probably looking at the magazines but where could Renji be?_

Ichigo didn't have to look any further because Renji was walking towards him holding something in his hand.

"Hey Ichigo!" Renji said. "Can you check this out for me?" He showed Ichigo….a DVD. On the cover was a picture of two ninjas all covered in black, fighting at the top of a building.

"Ahh…..do you know what this is about?" Ichigo asked the red headed guy.

"Yeah. It'a about ninjas…..and fighting. Are you going to get it for me or not?" Renji asked.

"Fine," Ichigo said. He felt very tired all of a sudden and didn't want to start a fight with Renji.

"Where's Rukia?" Renji said looking around for her.

"Eh...she probably where the magazines are," he said. They walked towards a corner of the library where the magazines were. Sure enough, there was Rukia with Teen People in her hand.

"Let's go," Ichigo said. They went to the checkout table and finally they were heading back home. Ichigo had started getting a headache and all he wanted to do was to go home. They were walking through a park when they suddenly heard a large BOOM behind them. _What is it now? Ichigo thought to himself._

* * *

Ahhh...I had so many mistakes in this chapter...Microsoft Word wasn't working so I couldn't really detect the errors. Anyways please review and tell me what you think! Night-night! 


	3. Chapter 3

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **I believe that in the anime, Yuzu and Karin share a room. In this story, I changed it so both girls had their own room. Also, for the lunch that's mentioned here…yeah I know it's more like breakfast food but my family and I eat it for lunch so it's lunch time with breakfastey kind of food.

**Chapter 3: **The BOOM.

Where we last left off...

"Let's go," Ichigo said. They went to the checkout table and finally they were heading back home. Ichigo had started getting a headache and all he wanted to do was to go home. They were walking through a park when they suddenly heard a large BOOM behind them. _What is it now? Ichigo thought to himself._

The three of them turned around but all they could see was smoke. Finally, after the smoke had cleared, they saw what had made the BOOM. It was Ganju, coming out of a clear, plastic bubble. The bubble must have crashed pretty hard since there was a big hole where it stood.

"Ganju?" Ichigo said. Suddenly he felt like his whole body was aching.

"Huh?" Ganju said. He hadn't noticed that there were three people staring at him. "Ichigo! Ahahahahaha……..it's been a long time."

Before anyone could reply, Ichigo passed out and fell on the soft grass.

"Ichigo," Rukia yelled as she sat down near him. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, Ichigo," Renji said on the other side of him. Rukia felt his forehead.

"He's burning up! Here give me the library materials. I'll carry them while you carry Ichigo," Rukia commanded. Renji handed her the things they had gotten from the library.

"Here, I'll help too," Ganju said appearing near them. He put Ichigo's left arm over his neck while Renji put Ichigo's right hand over his. They carried him home.

**At the house…**

Renji, Ganju, and Rukia where sitting in the living room. They had just carried Ichigo to his bed and had closed the door as to not disturb him.

"I'm going to the kitchen to try and find some medicine," Rukia told the two as she left the room.

"Okay," They both said.

"What are you doing here?" Renji asked Ganju. They hadn't really talked before but he knew he was one of Ichigo's friends that had helped rescue Rukia back in Soul Society.

"Eh….my sister kicked me out again," Ganju grinned. "I wasn't counting on meeting you guys here though. She usually sends me farther. Man did I get lucky this time! What are _you _doing here?"

"Just dropping by," Renji said. "Nothing much is happening in Soul Society so Kuchiki-taichou let me come by."

"I found it!" They heard Rukia say. She appeared in the living room with a glass of orange juice and a bottle of blue liquid. "I'm going upstairs. You can watch your movie, Renji. The DVD player is the grey box under the television." She went upstairs to Ichigo's room.

_That Ichigo, Renji thought, always getting attention._

**Upstairs in Ichigo's room…**

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. _Where was he? He thought to himself. The last thing he remembered was going to the library and then walking back...but..._

The door to his room opened and there stood Rukia.

"Rukia." Ichigo said when he saw her. "How did I end up in my bed?"

"You fainted on the way back from the library. Oh and Ganju is here also. He and Renji carried you here," Rukia said. Ichigo frowned. He didn't like the thought of Renji carrying him to his own bed.

"So it _was_ Ganju I saw," he said grinning. "Somehow I'm not surprised."

"Here," Rukia said. "Drink this." She handed him the orange juice. Ichigo took the juice and drank it all in seconds. "Oh and also this. Your fever is not that high but still take some." She handed him the bottle of blue liquid.

"Okay. Okay. I'll take some later," Ichigo said putting it on the small table next to his bed. "What are they doing right now?" He was worried that Renji and Ganju might destroy the house or make a scene that will bring the neighbors over…..or worse the police.

"They are watching that movie from the library," Rukia replied.

"Oh! I forgot about my essay!" Ichigo said suddenly remembering why they had gone to the library in the first place.

"Baka. In the state you are right now, you're not going to school tomorrow," Rukia told him.

"Ha! I don't stay sick for long Rukia. In fact, I feel better already," he said slowly getting up but Rukia stopped him.

"You're not going anywhere," Rukia said in a loud voice. She pushed him down. "I'll do your essay if you want it done so badly but you aren't getting out of bed, you got that Ichigo?"

"Fine….fine…..." Ichigo said turning over to the side facing the wall. He hated to admit it but he was feeling very weak. "I'll just sleep again……..thanks, Rukia…..ah and tell Ganju he can stay here for the night if he isn't going back today…...but get them out before my dad comes tomorrow."

"Ok," Rukia said feeling pleased that for the first time ever; Ichigo had listened to what she was saying. She left the room and went downstairs.

**Downstairs…**

"Hahahahaha…did you see the look on that guy? Didn't even know what hit him," Renji said laughing. He was sitting on the couch laughing at the TV screen in front of him. Ganju was on the floor, laughing also.

"Is that movie really that funny?" Rukia asked them, sitting next to Renji on the couch.

"Oh you should have seen it Rukia! This guy got hit on the head with a coconut!" Renji said turning to her. "How's Ichigo doing?"

"He's fine. All he needs is to rest." Rukia said. She turned to Ganju. "Ichigo said you can sleep here but his dad is coming tomorrow so I don't know what we are going to do with you guys."

"Don't worry about it," Renji said. "I'm leaving early tomorrow."

"Yeah me too," Ganju said. "I can just leave when he leaves."

"See Rukia? We got it all planned," Renji said turning his attention to the screen again.

"That's great," Rukia said. "Anyways, be on the lookout for hollows. I'm going to go make some lunch for us." She got up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.

"She knows how to cook?" Ganju asked the red-headed shinigami. Renji shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never seen Rukia cook anything before…..it doesn't matter what she makes…I'm getting hungry," Renji said.

**In the Kitchen…**

"Hmmm……what should I make?" Rukia thought out loud to herself. She was trying to remember everything she had learned about cooking from the magazines she had read.

"Eggs!" Rukia said, "I can make eggs……and those strips of meat….I'm sure I can find some here since I've eaten them before." She opened the refrigerator and took out the carton of eggs. There were six left.

"This should be enough," she told herself. Next, she got out a pan from one of the cabinets and placed it on the stove. She turned it on and dumped all the eggs in the pan, throwing away the empty shells.

"Hmm……..now where are those bacon strips," Rukia asked herself. She opened the refrigerator once again and found them on the side of the refrigerator door. She took out the package of bacon and got four strips. She placed them on another pan and placed it next to the other one with eggs.

"All I need is the bread," Rukia said to herself. She opened all the cabinets but couldn't find any bread. _Where could it be? She thought. _She looked up and saw that on the top of the refrigerator was a loaf of bread. She got the bread and got four pieces of bread. She put them in the toaster. It was one of those 'double-toasters.'

After awhile, Rukia called out, "Renji! Ganju! I'm almost done!"

"Ok," she heard Renji yell back.

Rukia went over to the stove and turned it off. The eggs looked a little darker…… and the bacon was VERY dark and it looked smaller than they first were. _Ahhh……..well…this was her first time after all._

She got out four paper plates and laid them on the counter. She got the pan with eggs and got a spatula to serve them on each plate. The eggs were stuck to the pan!

_Why did they get stuck? She thought._

After ten minutes had passed, she had gotten the eggs out of the pan and into the paper plates.

Now the bacon strips. They too were also stuck to the pan. She used a pair of tongs to get them out. Finally, all she needed left was the bread. She went over to the toaster and got out the pieces of bread. They were a nice color of brown, just like in the pictures of her magazines. On each plate, she placed a piece of bread.

"I'm done! Come sit at the table," Rukia called out to the guys in the living room. They came and sat in the small kitchen table, which had five chairs.

"I'm hungry!" Renji said looking very hungry indeed. Ganju sat next to him, looking forward to lunch since he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast this morning.

"Here are your plates," Rukia told them, coming in with a plate on each hand. She placed them on the table.

Renji looked down at his plate. The eggs and the bread looked okay, but the bacon was a very dark color. He and Ganju hurriedly took a bite of their meal.

_Well the bread's good……the rest…..isn't, Ganju thought chewing slowly._

_Man, this bacon is hard……and the eggs taste different……, Renji thought._

"So? How was it?" Rukia said, sitting down across from them with her own plate. Renji and Ganju looked at each other. They didn't want to tell her the truth but if they lied, Rukia would find out once she tasted her own meal.

_What are we going to do? They both thought_

"Come on, how was it?" Rukia asked them again. "Well I better bring Ichigo his plate before it gets cold." She stood up and walked over to the counter.

_Ichigo! Renji thought, He'll surely tell Rukia the truth…..ahhhhh….what am I going to do?_

"Hey Rukia……it was…….your lunch was…….," Renji started to say but he was cut off by loud roaring. A hollow! The three stared at each other and…….

* * *

Yay! I would have updated this earlier but I was having "computer problems"...more like my computer was dying because of all these spywares and things that it had...my fault since I hate doing the sweeps but whatever no one wants to hear about my computer problems. So yeah...this chappie was...weird...sorry if it's confusing...I'm not very good at describing things like the cooking part or the fever part I dunno if I even described it correctly...I can see it but I can't really write it...well Ganju is here! All that's left is Hitsugaya...well anyways please review! Night night! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **Ahh…….another note. I have not idea how Hitsugaya calls Rukia, Ichigo, or Ganju. I don't even think that Hitsugaya and Ganju have really met so……..I'll just let Shiro-chan call these three characters by their first names. He calls Renji "Abarai" but sometimes he'll call him "Renji" in my story so that's that. Sorry if it's wrong…if anyone knows…please tell me so I can change it because I have no clue! Also sorry about the action parts. It's hard for me to describe what it looks like.

**Chapter 4:** What is Hitsugaya-taichou doing here?

Where we last left off...

"Hey Rukia…it was….your lunch was…," Renji started to say but he was cut off by loud roaring. A hollow! The three stared at each other and the two guys stood up.

"Ganju, take care of Ichigo," Rukia told him, "We'll take care of it. It's just one hollow by the sound of it."

"Sure," Ganju said.

"Here," Rukia gave Ganju the paper plate she had been holding, "Give this to Ichigo. He's probably hungry."

"Let's go Rukia," Renji said. They turned and headed out the door.

"I wonder what else is there to eat," Ganju asked out loud to himself, looking down at Ichigo's plate.

**Outside…**

"Do you know where it is?" Rukia said, running with Renji.

"Yeah….It's at the park we were passing by earlier," Renji said.

"Let's hurry," Rukia told her friend. Both of them picked up their speed and headed towards the park.

**Meanwhile...**

"Aww…..there's nothing here," Ganju said after he had looked through all the cabinets. Everything he found was empty and the boxes that were not, contained difficult cooking instructions. Ganju had never cooked in his life and he wasn't going to start now.

_Well I better take this to Ichigo, he thought to himself. _

He went upstairs and opened Ichigo's door. He was sleeping, with his back facing the door.

_I guess he didn't hear the hollow, Ganju thought. _

Suddenly, Ichigo stirred and turned to look at Ganju.

"Hey Ganju," Ichigo said tiredly. He got up and sat on the bed. His orange hair was messed up and he looked very tired.

"Hey Ichigo!" Ganju responded walking in. "Here it's uh... made it." He handed Ichigo the plate.

"Really?" Ichigo said looking surprised. "I didn't know she could cook." He looked down at his plate.

"She can't…...well it's not _that_ bad," Ganju said.

"I'm starving! Right now I'll eat anything," Ichigo said. He shoved the food in his mouth and ate it quickly in seconds.

"Wow. I've never seen anyone eat that fast!" Ganju laughed.

"Yeah….and you're right about the food. It's not that bad," Ichigo said, putting his plate aside.

"Well you could be the one to tell her that," Ganju said, "Renji and I didn't know what to say."

"Sure. Hey speaking of them, where are they?" Ichigo asked wondering why Ganju had come up to his room alone.

"Oh about that...we heard a hollow just now and they left while I stayed here with ya. Don't worry," Ganju said seeing a look of concern pass Ichigo's face, "They'll take care of it."

"Okay," Ichigo said.

**Outside…**

Renji and Rukia had finally arrived at the park.

"There it is," Rukia said looking straight ahead. The park was very wide and the hollow was in the center, moving towards the street.

"This will be easy," Renji said running towards the hollow. "Howl Zabimaru!" His zanpakutō immediately changed to its shikai form, with its multiple blades along the edge. He jumped high above the hollow and stretched his soul slayer towards it. The hollow was cut in half and vanished quickly after that.

"See what did I tell you? Let's go Rukia!" Renji said walking towards her. As he got closer to her, he realized that she wasn't really looking at him.

"Hey Rukia! What's wrong?" Renji asked her, standing right in front of her.

"Renji….look...behind you," Rukia said slowly, pointing behind him.

"What?" Renji said confused. He turned around and then he realized what Rukia meant. There were many black holes appearing out of the sky. Out of them, hollows were coming out. There must have been at least ten or more.

"What the…..What's going on?" Renji asked staring at the black holes. Usually, the holes would close after the hollow came out but this time they weren't. That's why more hollows were appearing.

"Let's go," Rukia said in a serious tone, "I'll take the ones on the right."

"Rukia. But your-," Renji started to say but she interrupted him.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," Rukia told him, knowing what he was going to say. She still hadn't completely recovered all her powers.

"Fine," Renji said. He started running towards the hollows on the left side while Rukia ran in the other direction.

There were just so many for them. After getting rid of some, more would appear. This could go on forever. Renji turned to see how Rukia was doing when he saw a hollow coming toward her. She had her back towards it, fighting another hollow so she didn't see it coming.

"RUKIA! Behind you!" Renji yelled running towards her.

Rukia turned around and saw the hollow, coming straight at her. Suddenly, the air turned very cold and ice started falling from the sky. Hitsugaya appeared from the sky, flying with wings made out of ice. With his zanpakutō, he destroyed both hollows.

Then, a noise like thunder was heard from the sky even though there was not a cloud in sight. The sky flashed a light green and then it turned back to its normal light blue color. All the holes and hollows were gone.

Hitsugaya landed next to Rukia. His wings and tail made completely out of ice disappeared slowly.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Renji said surprised. _What is he doing here?_

"Are you okay?" Hitsugaya asked Rukia.

"Ah yes…Arigato Hitsugaya-taichou," Rukia said looking at the captain. She was as surprised as Renji was. _What was he doing here? _She had never seen him in the Living World before. Usually, it was Ukitake-taichou or Kyōraku-taichoum who came.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, what happened just now?" Renji asked him. "The hollow holes weren't closing."

"I don't know what just happened. I'm as surprised as you are. When I left, nothing unusual was happening," Hitsugaya said, not looking to happy to be here.

Renji looked confused "Then….why did you come here?

"For you," He said looking straight at Renji with his green eyes. "Kuchiki-san couldn't contact you so he asked me to come. He wants you to return to Soul Society. All the vice-captains were all busy with their paperwork, so that's why I'm here." _Also, I was the first person he saw after deciding to ask someone to come here, Hitsugaya thought to himself. _

"Oh….Sorry, taichou," Renji said, "Let's go and get Ganju. He and I were going to leave tomorrow morning."

"Well let's go then," Hitsugaya said, "I want to return quickly."

_Matsumoto had better not have run away again, he thought._

The three shinigami headed towards Ichigo's house.

**At the house…**

Ichigo and Ganju were talking about the first time they met when the door to his room opened.

"Hey Renji. Rukia," Ichigo said when he saw them. Then he saw the white-haired shinigami. "Ahh……what's he doing here? You couldn't handle one hollow by yourself Renji?"

Before Renji could reply, the white-haired shinigami said, "It's Hitsugaya-taichou and there wasn't just one hollow. The holes weren't closing, so many hollows appeared."

"What?" Ichigo said looking confused. Ganju did as well.

"Anyways that is not the reason why I'm here," Hitsugaya said. He turned to Renji, "Abarai."

"Oh…hey Ganju, Kuchiki-taichou wants me to return so do you want to leave with us?" Renji asked.

"Sure," Ganju replied standing up. "I'm ready."

"Fine. Let's go," Hitsugaya said turning around.

"Bye Ichigo. Rukia," Renji said turning to follow Hitsugaya.

"See you later Ichigo," Ganju said.

"Bye guys," Ichigo said.

They left the room and went downstairs.

Rukia turned to Ichigo. "Did you take the medicine?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Thanks again Rukia."

"I'm going to get some water," Rukia said, leaving the room.

**Outside…**

The three stood outside the house.

"I'll open it," Renji said getting out his zanpakutō. He held it right in front of him, like if it was a key opening a door.

"Unlock," Renji called out. Nothing happened. Usually, the zanpakutō would turn and the Gate would appear.

"Unlock," Renji said again. Nothing happened.

"Here," Hitsugaya said. "Let me try." Renji moved out of the way and this time Hitsugaya tried.

"Unlock," Hitsugaya commanded. Nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Ganju asked.

"The Gate isn't appearing at all," Renji told him.

Hitsugaya took out his cell phone. All captains had recently gotten them so that they could stay in touch with their vice-captains while they were far away. The vice-captains had them also but there were some problems. Some shinigami, like Renji, never had their phones with them and others, like Matsumoto, never picked up.

Hitsugaya called Matsumoto. _You better pick up this time, he thought._

Ring. Ring. Ring.

**Soul Society- 10th Division Quarters**

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Matsumoto's purple phone rang. She had disliked the gray color of her cell phone, so she had her's made in a different color. Everyone else's remained gray. Hitsugaya thought that after she had gotten her phone purple, she would pick up whenever he called. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Aww…I don't want to do all this paperwork, taichou!" Matsumoto said at the ringing phone. She was sitting on Hitsugaya's desk, looking at all the paperwork he had left her to finish. She hadn't even started. _Now he probably wants me to do something else as well, she thought._

Ring. Ring. Ring.

She was surprised that the phone rang yet again. Usually, Hitsugaya would know that she wasn't going to pick so he would stop calling.

Matsumoto sighed. She got up from the desk and went over to the couch where her purple phone was.

"Hello?" Matsumoto said on the phone.

"MATSUMOTO!" Hitsugaya yelled into her ear.

"Oww…taichou! You hurt my ears," she responded holding the phone away from her ear.

"Listen, I'm in the Living World right now and the Gate won't appear," He said seriously. "Do you know the reason why?"

"Nope," she said. "I've been here all morning stari…umm I mean doing my paperwork."

"Really?" Hitsugaya responded.

"Um...yes," Matsumoto replied.

"Whatever. Do you really think I'm going to believe that? Get someone to open the Gate. I'm in front of Kurosaki Ichigo's house," Hitsugaya said.

"Okay…but taichou really! I've been here doing it," Matsumoto said defensively. She didn't want him to think that she was here doing nothing, even if she really was doing nothing.

"Fine, fine. When I get there, I better have HALF of that paperwork on my desk completed. It wasn't that much anyways. See you there Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said turning off his phone.

"What! Taichou! I…" Matsumoto yelled at the phone but he had already hung up.

"I'm so dead!" Matsumoto said out loud to herself. She dumped her phone on the couch and went to find someone to open the Gate.

**Back to the Living World…**

"Someone will open the Gate soon," Hitsugaya told them.

"I wonder what happened," Ganju replied.

"I don't know. Matsumoto doesn't know anything about it either," Hitsugaya said.

"Why did Kuchiki-taichou want me to return?" Renji asked Hitsugaya. He had wanted to stay here a little bit longer.

"He didn't say," Hitsugaya replied. "There's probably more work for you to do."

"Oh," Renji said.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Hitsugaya's phone rang.

"Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya asked on the phone.

"Yeah, it's me taichou. I have bad news for you," she said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Hitsugaya asked. "Did you tell someone to open the gate?"

"Yeah…..but….here, talk to Ukitake-taichou. He'll tell you what happened," Matsumoto said.

"Hello? Hitsugaya-taichou?" Ukitake's voice suddenly asked.

"I'm here," Hitsugaya said. "What is going on?"

"We can't open the Gate. Something happened earlier that I believe is the reason why it won't appear. I don't know if you were there to see it but some hollows appeared near where you are," Ukitake said.

"Does it have something to do with the holes?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yes. So you did see it," Ukitake said. "We were trying to close them, here in Soul Society, and something we must have done must have made the Gate close. I don't know how long it will remain like this. Right now, Kyōraku-taichou and I are trying to fix it. By the looks of it, you might have to stay there for the night. I'll call you later when we know more information."

"Sure," Hitsugaya said. He was surprised. _How could this happen?_

"Hey taichou!" Matsumoto's voice yelled. "Since you are going to stay there, can you bring me something back from there? I've always wanted to go…"

"No," Hitsugaya interrupted her. "You make it sound like I'm going to stay here for days. See you soon, Matsumoto." He turned off his phone.

**Soul Society- 10th Division Quarters**

"Taichou! Taichou?" Matsumoto said on the phone. "Hmph…..he hung up on me!"

Ukitake-taichou had already left the room. She turned off her phone and dumped it on the couch. She looked at the pile of paperwork on the desk.

"I'm going to take a little break," Matsumoto said to herself. She would come back and finish half of it by tomorrow.

**Back to the Living World…**

"So what's going on?" Renji asked the captain. He didn't look very happy about something.

"Soul Society was trying to close the hollow holes and in the process, the Gate stopped working. It probably won't be long before they can open it, but we are going to have to stay here for a little longer," Hitsugaya said looking at Ichigo's house.

"Oh well….let's finish that ninja movie we were watching!" Ganju said excitedly.

"Okay," Renji said following him into the house. Hitsugaya followed them.

**In the House…**

Rukia was heading upstairs with her glass of water when she saw Renji and Ganju enter from the front door.

"Renji, why are you guys still here?" Rukia asked.

"While Soul Society was trying to close those hollow holes, something happened to the Gate so we're going to stay here for awhile until they fix it," he said hurriedly. He turned and headed into the living room.

"We are going to watch that movie again," Ganju said following Renji.

"Okay," Rukia said. Hitsugaya appeared at the front door.

"Is it bad?" Rukia asked him.

"I'm still not sure. Kyōraku-taichou and Ukitake-taichou are trying to fix it," Hitsugaya responded. "Where's Kurosaki's room?"

"I'll show you," Rukia said heading up the stairs. Hitsugaya followed.

**Minutes later in Ichigo's room…**

"So that's what happened," Ichigo said. He was sitting on his bed. Rukia was sitting on the floor and Hitsugaya was standing near his bed. "It won't take long right? To fix the Gate?"

"Probably not. We'll be leaving soon," Hitsugaya replied.

"That's good. Not to sound rude or anything, but my dad is going to come home tomorrow," Ichigo said looking at the captain. Hitsugaya didn't say anything.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Hitsugaya's phone rang. Ichigo looked surprised when the captain pulled out a gray cell phone. Hitsugaya ignored the look and answered the phone.

"Hitsugaya-taichou?" Ukitake's voice suddenly spoke.

"Ah…is it fixed now?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Well...

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

Ahahahahahah! Me so happy! FINALLY I did it! This was the longest chapter so far. About 9 pages. Thanks **_Sango Hikari_** for the advice I didn't know how long they should be so I just stuck with 5 but now I'll make them longer. I have so many ideas. One especially that makes me laugh just thinking about it. Me so happy right now, the latest Bleach episode I saw was 92 and oh...someone's jealous of Rukia! Ahahahaha! Anyways please comment! 


	5. Chapter 5

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story. I only owe Ryou, the guy.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note:** YAY! I updated! Well here is chapter 5! Thanks so much for those who have reviewed! Arigatou!

**Chapter 5:** The Phone Call

Where we last left off...

Hitsugaya's phone rang. Ichigo looked surprised when the captain pulled out a gray cell phone. Hitsugaya ignored the look and answered the phone.

"Hitsugaya-taichou?" Ukitake's voice suddenly spoke.

"Ukitake-taichou…is it fixed now?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Well…..we found out what the problem was," Ukitake said.

"Yes…..so is it fixed now?" Hitsugaya repeated the question. He had a bad feeling about this.

"It's going to take about 12 days until the Gate can be opened," Ukitake said hurriedly. He had noticed the impatience in Hitsugaya's voice and by the sound of it; he did not want to stay in the Living World a minute longer.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked slowly. "What did…" Ukitake interrupted him.

"So sorry, Hitsugaya-taichou, but it's going to take about 12 days until the Gate works again. The problem was the power. The Gate, as you know, uses a lot of power that is kept in that crystal tube. We found out that the tube had a small hole. Even though it was small, a lot of the power was able to escape. If all of the power had escaped, it would have taken months to restore it but that isn't the case now," Ukitake said calmly.

Hitsugaya sighed. "12 days? Isn't there another option besides waiting for the Gate to be powered?" He knew that there was no option but he just couldn't believe it. 12 days! He was going to have to stay here for 12 days.

"Sorry taichou. There's nothing else we could do," Ukitake replied. Hitsugaya didn't say anything for a couple seconds.

"Ukitake-taichou, please tell Matsumoto that even though I'm not going to be there, I still expect all the paperwork she was assigned to be completed by the due date," Hitsugaya suddenly spoke. "Also, tell Byakuya-taichou that Renji won't be returning soon."

"Okay. I will," Ukitake responded. "Have fun taichou." He hung up.

**Ichigo's Room…**

Ichigo and Rukia saw the captain close his cell phone.

"12 days…What did—" Ichigo started to say but Hitsugaya interrupted him.

"We are going to have to stay here for about 12 days," Hitsugaya said looking directly Ichigo.

Ichigo was silent for a second……then……..

"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled. He suddenly felt sicker than he already was. _They are going to be HERE for 12 days?_

"Well there's nothing I can do so….I guess I'll stay here," Hitsugaya said looking at Ichigo's room.

"You guys can't stay here! My sisters may be gone but my dad will be home tomorrow morning!" Ichigo said loudly.

"Look Ichigo. Right now, they have nowhere to go. They can stay here and I will find some place for them to stay by tomorrow. That was the original plan before Hitsugaya-taichou arrived," Rukia said decidedly.

"Yeah but then it was different. They were just going to spend the night, not 12 days!"

"We'll leave you to rest," Rukia said heading out the door. Hitsugaya followed her. The door closed and Ichigo was left alone.

Ichigo sighed as he lay on his bed. _This can't be happening, he thought._

**Downstairs…**

"Renji. Ganju. Turn the TV off for a second. Hitsugaya-taichou got a call from Ukitake-taichou," Rukia said when she saw the two in the living room. Renji turned the TV off and stared at Hitsugaya.

"What did he say? Is the Gate fixed already?" Renji said disappointedly.

"No, we are going to have to wait until the Gate has restored its power," Hitsugaya said unexcitedly.

"How long?" Ganju asked the captain.

"About 12 days," Hitsugaya responded slowly.

There was a silence………then….

"YES!" Renji and Ganju shouted at the same time.

_I won't see Nee-chan for 12 days! Ganju thought._

_I get to stay here longer with Rukia! Renji thought._

"Well….what do we do now? We can only stay the night since Ichigo's dad will be here by tomorrow so—," Ganju started to say but Rukia interrupted him.

"I'll think of something. In the meantime, you guys will stay the night. There are three other rooms besides Ichigo's so it's perfect," Rukia said.

"I'll go pick my room now," Hitsugaya mumbled and left the room.

"Aww……I guess we get the sisters' rooms," Renji told Ganju who nodded. Hitsugaya was definitely going to pick the largest room, which belonged to Ichigo's dad.

"Well let's finish this movie," Ganju said turning on the TV. His sister never let him watch ninja movies.

"Ok," Renji responded turning his attention to the screen. Rukia went inside the kitchen.

**Soul Society- 10th Division Quarters**

Matsumoto had returned from her break. She entered the office and saw the pile of paperwork still on top of the desk.

"Awww…..they are still there!" She complained at the sight of them. Suddenly the door opened behind her and Ukitake-taichou appeared.

"Ukitake-taichou! What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Ah there you are! I came here earlier but you weren't here," Ukitake said looking relieved. Actually, he had came 4 times already but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"What's wrong?" Matsumoto asked.

"Hitsugaya-taichou won't be returning soon. The Gate lost quite a lot of power and it's going to take about 12 days or so until it works. He told me to tell you that he wants all the paperwork you have to be completed by the original due date even though he will not be here," he said.

"Really? 12 days? Thanks for telling me this Ukitake-taichou," Matsumoto said cheerfully.

Ukitake laughed. "Don't have too much fun." He knew that Matsumoto was not going to have the paperwork completed by the due date now that she had more time to do it.

"I won't," Matsumoto replied. Ukitake turned around and left the room.

"YAY!" she screamed when he had left. "Ahh…..I need another break." She lay down on the couch and went to sleep.

**Ichigo's House…..Downstairs**

It was almost dinnertime. Renji and Ganju had finished watching their movie and were watching television. Ichigo was sleeping and Hitsugaya hadn't appeared downstairs after he had left to pick his room.

"Hey Renji! What should I cook for dinner? There's not a lot of food so I was thinking of going to the store and—," Rukia started to say but Renji and Ganju interrupted her.

"NOOO!" They both said turning to her. Suddenly a commercial came on. They were showing pizza with all types of toppings on them. The family in the commercial looked happy, eating their pizza.

"PIZZA! PIZZA! GET YOUR PIZZA HOT AND READY WHEN YOU GO TO PIZZA PALACE!" the announcer said in a loud voice. "NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME OFFER, WHEN YOU BUY 3 LARGE PIZZAS, WE WILL DELIVER IT TO YOUR HOME FOR FREE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? YOUR PIZZA IS WAITING! CALL NOW!" At the bottom of the screen was a phone number, 555-5555.

"Oh! Let's get that!" Ganju said pointing at the screen. "It looks so good!"

"Yeah!" Renji said looking at Rukia. "See Rukia? You don't have to cook anything. Let's just call them and get food!"

"But I like to cook…..and Renji that costs money," Rukia told him.

"Money?" Ganju said confused.

"Yeah….money. I know both of you don't have any," Rukia said.

"But I bet Ichigo does!" Ganju said looking excitedly. Before Rukia could say anything, the two guys headed upstairs.

**Ichigo's Room…**

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. He was tired of being in bed and he was starting to get hungry again. _I wonder what we are having, he thought._

Suddenly his room burst open.

"Ichigo!" Renji and Ganju yelled looking at their friend.

"Hey Ichigo! Do you have any money?" Renji asked him eagerly.

"Yeah we need it to buy pizza from the television," Ganju said.

"What? I'm not giving you my money. I work hard to earn that money," Ichigo replied.

"But…but….you don't really want to eat Rukia's cooking right? She wanted to go out and buy food so she could cook dinner," Ganju said looking at his friend.

Ichigo sighed. "Fine...I'll give you some."

"Yes!" Renji said. Ichigo grabbed the brown wallet that was on top of the small table next to him.

"Here," he said giving Renji the wallet. "Use what you need and then bring it back to me."

"Thanks Ichigo! Don't worry, we won't lose it or nothing like that," Ganju said as he and Renji left the room.

**Back downstairs…**

"Rukia! We have it!" Renji yelled as he ran into the living room. Rukia was sitting on the couch, watching The Food Channel.

"Ichigo gave us his money!" Ganju added sitting on the couch.

"So let's call them," Renji said.

"Fine…here. I'll bring the telephone over," Rukia said, standing up and heading towards the corner of the room. The white wireless phone was on a small table.

"Okay….what was the number again?" Ganju asked Renji.

"It was 555-555," Renji said. "It's pretty easy to remember." Rukia came over with the phone and handed it to Renji.

"You call," she told him. Renji took the phone and dialed the number. Ganju sat near him.

"Hello, thanks for calling Pizza Palace. What would you like to order today?" a voice said. The voice belonged to Ryou, an employee from Pizza Palace.

"Huh….yeah…I'll have 3 large pizzas," Renji said. He remembered from the commercial that if he got three pizzas, they would deliver it for free.

"Okay. What kinds of toppings do you want?" Ryou asked.

"Toppings?" Renji asked confused.

"Yeah…like we have pepperoni, sausage, onion, mushroom, pineapple, and more," he said. Ryou didn't feel like naming all 30 toppings.

"Oh….can you wait a second?" Renji asked him.

"Ah…sure," Ryou said.

Renji turned to Rukia. "What kind of toppings do you want?"

"Pepperoni!" Rukia told him. "I tasted it before and I liked it."

"Ok. How about you Ganju?" Renji asked him.

"What are they? The toppings?" Ganju asked.

"Ah….pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, and I think he said pineapple," Renji replied.

"Ah…..I'll have sausage then. What are you having?" Ganju asked Renji.

"I'm having sausage too," Renji replied. He turned to Rukia. "What topping does Ichigo like?"

"Umm…..he likes all of them. So he can have either pepperoni or sausage. Oh we forgot about Hitsugaya-taichou!" Rukia exclaimed. She turned around and ran up the stairs.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Ryou called out.

"Oh wait a second. I need to know what kind of topping taichou will want," Renji said on the phone.

"Taichou?" Ryou said confused.

**Upstairs… **

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Rukia said as she opened the door to Hitsugaya's room. He was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. When he saw Rukia, he immediately stood up.

"What's wrong?" he asked seriously.

"What kind of topping do you want?" Rukia asked him.

"Topping?" He said confused.

"Renji is getting pizza and there's different toppings you can chose like pepperoni or cheese or," she said but he interrupted her.

"I'll just have mushrooms then," Hitsugaya said. He had tasted pizza before.

"Oh…okay," Rukia said as she left the room. Hitsugaya sat down on the bed, remembering his first slice of pizza.

**Downstairs…**

"Renji, Hitsugaya-taichou wants mushroom," Rukia said as she entered the living room.

"Okay," Renji said. He put the phone close to his ear. "Hello? Mr.?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Ryou said from the other line. He was tired of waiting.

"Okay, I'll have 1 large pepperoni pizza, 1 large sausage pizza, and 1 mushroom pizza," he said carefully.

"Okay….it that all?" Ryou asked him.

"Yeah that's all," Renji said. "Can you bring it soon? We are kind of hungry."

"Uh…yeah when it's ready. Can I have your address please?" Ryou asked.

"Uh…..." Renji said. He lowered the phone and turned to Rukia. "What's the address?"

"304 Meadow Street," Rukia said proudly. It had taken her only 2 weeks to memorize it.

"304 Meadow Street," Renji repeated into the phone.

"Ok. Your order will be a total of $22.50. Have a good day," Ryou said and he hung up.

"Ok. He said it was going to be $20.50," Renji said turning to the two near him.

"Here let me have the wallet," Rukia said. Renji gave her Ichigo's wallet. She took out a $20 and 2 quarters. "Here, give this to the person when they come. I'm going to get plates and drinks."

Renji took the money. Rukia put the wallet on a table and headed towards the kitchen.

"These things are really shiny," Ganju said taking one of the quarters from Renji.

"This one isn't," Renji said, holding out the other quarter.

**10 Minutes Later…**

Rukia was in the kitchen getting out plates while the two guys were in the living room watching TV.

Ding. Dong.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Renji said walking towards the door. He opened the door and there stood a guy with a red bag.

"Uh...did you order 3 large pizzas?" he said uncertainly, looking at Renji. He had never seen red hair like that before.

"Yeah," Renji taking the 3 large boxes. He recognized his voice. It was the same guy that he had talked to on the phone.

"That will be $20.50," Ryou said.

"Oh I forgot the money," Renji said shoving the three boxes back at the confused pizza guy. Renji went into the living room.

"Who was it?" Ganju said looking at him.

"It's the guy with our food," Renji said. He had put the money on a small table but it wasn't there anymore. "Where's the money?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen it," Ganju replied. "I'll help you look for it."

He got up and started checking under the couch.

**3 Blocks Away…**

"I need a ride!" Kon yelled waving a green $20 bill. He was next to the road trying to hitch a ride. He was going to take a walk outside when he had seen the green bill on the table. No one had noticed he had left…_with the money. _

"Anyone?" Kon called again.

**Back to the House…**

"RUKIA! Do you have any more money?" Renji said calling out.

"Money?" Rukia replied coming out of the kitchen. "I gave you some."

"I don't know where it is," Renji said. "I put it right HERE." He pointed to a spot on the small table.

"Here, I'll get some more from Ichigo's wallet," she said getting the wallet. She took out another $20 and 2 quarters.

"Thanks," Renji said taking the money. He went to the front door where the pizza guy was still waiting.

"Here," Renji said giving him the money. He gave Renji the three boxes.

"Man, I'm so quitting this job," Ryou said. He turned around and walked away.

…………...

Renji closed the door and carried the pizzas to the kitchen.

"FOOD'S HERE!" he yelled. Rukia and Ganju sat on the table across from each other. Hitsugaya appeared and sat next to Rukia. Renji sat next to Ganju. Renji was opening the boxes when Ichigo appeared in the kitchen.

"Ichigo! You should be in bed. I was going to bring your pizza up," Rukia said when she saw him.

"I'm tired of sleeping. Besides, I'm feeling a little better," Ichigo said taking a seat in between Ganju and Rukia.

Everyone got their slices and started eating.

"Man, this IS good!" Ganju said.

"I could eat this everyday!" Renji said. Hitsugaya nodded.

"Yeah right! It costs every time you know," Ichigo said looking at Renji. "By the way, where's my wallet?"

"Here," Rukia said handing it over to him. "Renji lost the $20 so we had to get another $20 from your wallet."

"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled. "You lost $20 bucks?"

"I didn't lose it. It wasn't there where I left it!" Renji said looking at Ichigo.

"You owe me Renji! I don't know— " Ichigo started to say but he was interrupted by the phone ringing.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

_Who could be calling?_

Yeah who is calling during pizza time? Ahahahahaha...weird chappie. Sorry if it's a little...weird. Well I really have to go to sleep now, I have to wake up at 5 am tomorrow. . Good night and don't forget to review! School starts in 3 DAYS for me! O.o


	6. Chapter 6

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **Hello! Man I haven't update in forever! I'm trying to work on a Bleach AMV and sad excuse but homework is piling up and up it's crazy! Anyways…thanks **_Sango Hikari_ **for pointing out my mistake in the last chappie I thought I had fixed it but guess not. Also I want to thank **EVERYONE** that has reviewed my little fanfic. I LOVE BLEACH and I want to write a good story about it so thank you all! Well finally here's chapter 6! Finally! SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! Because of that, I made it a little bit longer. Hope you like.

**Chapter 6:** A Normal School Day

Where we last left off...

"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled. "You lost $20 bucks?"

"I didn't lose it. It wasn't there where I left it!" Renji said looking at Ichigo.

"You owe me Renji! I don't know— " Ichigo started to say but he was interrupted by the phone ringing.

**Ring. Ring. Ring**.

_Who could be calling?_

Renji stood up to get the phone.

"Don't answer!" Rukia shouted. "Ichigo is supposed to be alone remember?"

Renji got the phone and handed it to Ichigo.

"Hello?" Ichigo asked.

"ICHIGO!" A voice suddenly yelled into his ear.

"Dad?" Ichigo said surprised.

"Yes that's me! What, you forgot the voice of your dear father already?" He said laughing.

"Ha. Who could forget your annoying voice. Why are you calling? Are you on your way right now?" Ichigo asked concerned. As far as he knew, Rukia still hadn't found a place for the three 'visitors' to stay.

"Nope. Guess what Ichigo? Guess what happened? THEY LET ME STAY! Ahahahaha! Aren't you jealous?" His father said laughing loudly.

Ichigo's mouth opened a little. "What?"

"Too surprised huh? The manager saw how sad I was, about to part from my two only daughters for two weeks! Being an only father and being away from my children! The pain! The loneliness! Ahh…it's too bad you didn't come Ichigo! They would have let you stay also. So see you in two weeks! Go to school and get smarter! Right now, it's Swimming Time!" he said and hung up.

Ichigo was too surprised to say anything. He stood there staring down at the phone. Rukia and Ganju were staring at him. Renji was grinning. Hitsugaya was eating his pizza.

"So Ichigo…..what did your dad say?" Renji asked Ichigo, still grinning.

"Huh?" Ichigo responded.

"Tell us what your dad told you," Renji said calmly. He had heard the entire conversation. Ichigo had been so surprised that he hadn't noticed that Renji had been about an inch away from him listening to the entire conversation.

Rukia frowned. _What was Renji so happy about? _She had never seen him so….happy before.

"What did your dad say?" Ganju asked curiously.

"He's...not coming tomorrow," Ichigo said slowly and then he realized what those words meant. His dad wasn't coming tomorrow…….he wasn't going to be home for two weeks…..and _they _were still here since the Gate wasn't working…..which means……that they were going to have to stay here with them!

"Was that so hard to say?" Renji said patting Ichigo on the back.

"Wait….what? He isn't coming tomorrow?" Rukia asked confused. "Why, is he okay?"

"Yeah he's fine. Apparently, he's staying at the camp…with Yuzu and Karin for two whole weeks," Ichigo said.

"Huh? Isn't he too old to be at a camp?" Hitsugaya asked looking confused.

"You don't know my dad," Ichigo said closing his eyes. "Great. I guess this means that you-"

"WE GET TO STAY HERE!" Ganju interrupted him. He had finally gotten it.

"YES!" Renji said looking at Ichigo.

"I'll sleep in the large room then," Hitsugaya said, turning to his pizza slice.

"I'll sleep in the living room!" Renji called out.

"Why? There's a room for each of you," Rukia told him.

"I know but if I sleep in the living room, I'll be closer to the television AND the kitchen," Renji said.

"Oh…..so then I have 2 rooms to choose from," Ganju said happily.

"Sure," Renji responded.

"Okay, here are the rules," Ichigo said looking at all of them. "As long as you are here, you have to follow them. I don't want you guys doing anything….stupid. I don't want anyone noticing you and telling someone about it. So rule #1, no one leaves the house without telling me, rule #2, you _will_ help with the chores around here and rule #3, Renji you still owe me $20 bucks."

"Fine. Fine. I'll give you your stupid money somehow," Renji said.

"Hey Ichigo….what are we going to do about tomorrow?" Rukia asked him suddenly. Tomorrow was Monday…..which meant school.

"Tomorrow?" Ichigo said confused. "Oh that's right….we have school."

Rukia nodded. Hitsugaya frowned. Ganju looked confused.

"School?" Renji said, "I'm not going to school. I finished that already in Soul Society."

"Oh well," Ichigo grinned, "There's no way I'm going to let you guys stay at home by yourselves."

"Why?" Ganju asked. "We are old enough to take care of ourselves Ichigo. You don't have to worry about us."

"I know that! I'm worried that you guys are going to destroy my house," Ichigo said.

"Yeah right! I'm surprised you haven't already…..with that spirit power of yours," Renji said.

"Shut up," Ichigo responded.

"Anyways, when does this school of yours start?" Renji asked. He hated waking up early in the morning.

"It starts at 8:00 am so wake up early," Rukia said knowing that Renji hated waking up early.

"Great," Renji said sarcastically.

"Well I'm going to see which room I will be staying at," Ganju said. He got up and headed upstairs.

"I'll go get some blankets and a pillow for you Renji," Rukia said, getting up from the table.

"Ok," Renji said.

After that, Hitsugaya went up to his room and Ichigo went into the living room.

"Here are the blankets," Rukia said, handing Renji two blue blankets. "And here's the pillow."

"Thanks, Rukia," Renji said. He placed them on one of the big couches and sat down.

"Well it's time to sleep," Ichigo said getting up.

"Ha! I'm not sleepy yet. I still have to watch my 30 minutes of television," Renji responded turning on the TV.

"Whatever. It's not going to be my fault when you can't get up in the morning. Just keep the volume down," Ichigo said.

"No Renji, turn it off," Rukia said. Both Ichigo and Renji looked at her in surprise.

"What?" she said noticing that they were staring at her. "I'm sleeping here. If that thing's on, I won't be able to go to sleep." Since Ichigo's dad wasn't going to be here for a while, she could sleep wherever she wanted. The closet in Ichigo's room really was too small for her to sleep comfortably.

"Oh," Ichigo said. "Ok, then….goodnight." He turned and went upstairs.

"Fine…I'll turn it off," Renji said getting the remote. Rukia got her blanket and placed it on the other couch next to Renji's.

"Good night Renji," she said as she pulled the blanket over her body. "Get up at 7:00 am if you can."

"Yeah, good night Rukia," Renji said closing his eyes.

The house was quiet as all its five members went to sleep.

**Monday….7 a.m.**

Rukia slowly opened her eyes. The room was quiet and she got up. Renji was still sleeping on the other couch. She walked to Renji's couch and shook him.

"Wake up Renji," Rukia said.

"Ahhhhh…Rukia…let me sleep," Renji mumbled. He turned his back towards her.

"Renji!" she called out in a louder voice. He didn't move.

"Wake up!" Rukia yelled even louder. Just then, Ichigo appeared in the living room.

"Rukia, why are you yelling so early in the morning?" he asked looking at her.

"Renji hates waking up early," she explained. "If he doesn't get up now, he never will so I have to yell to wake him up."

"Oh. This should wake him up," Ichigo said moving near the sleeping Renji.

"What are you going to do?" Rukia asked him.

"This!" Ichigo said as he pulled Renji out of the couch.

"Ow!" Renji shouted as he landed on the floor. "What the-"

"WAKE UP BAKA!" Ichigo said staring down at him.

"Ichigo!" Renji said as he got up. He pushed Ichigo to the floor. Ichigo looked up.

"Is that all you got?" Ichigo said as he and Renji started fighting in the living room.

"Ichigo! Renji! Stop fighting!" Rukia shouted but it was no use. They weren't listening to her. Rukia got the blanket she had been sleeping with and threw it over them. It was large enough to cover them.

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted as he tripped. Renji had gotten out from under the blanket.

"Hahahahaha," He laughed looking at the fallen Ichigo. "Look at yourself."

"What's going on?" Ganju asked as he entered the living room. He saw Ichigo on the floor with a large blanket over his head.

"Ahahahahaha," he laughed along with Renji. He laughed so hard that he fell to the floor.

"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted at them. Even Rukia was smiling at him.

"Come on, let's get ready," Rukia said heading upstairs. Her school uniform was in Ichigo's closet.

**45 Minutes Later…**

The five of them were finally out of the house. Rukia and Ichigo were the only ones dressed in the school uniform. Ganju, Hitsugaya, and Renji were dressed in jeans and plain T-shirts. Which, by the way, had taken forever to find since Ichigo didn't want anyone wearing his clothes.

"You'll get uniforms when we get to the school," Rukia told them. They started walking towards the school.

"Why do we have to wake up so early?" Renji said as they were walking. The sun was out and his eyes were still not used to the bright light.

"I don't know," Ichigo responded. He felt tired.

"There it is," Rukia pointed in front of them. There stood the two story white school.

"Wow," Ganju said.

"Eh….I'm hungry," Renji said looking down at his growling stomach.

"You didn't want any breakfast so that's your own fault," Rukia responded.

"Uhhhh……" Renji said, wishing that he had taken the plate she had offered.

**Flashback……Breakfast**

"Renji," Rukia said. "Breakfast."

Renji turned and saw Hitsugaya, Ganju, and Ichigo eating something in the kitchen table.

"Do you want some?" Rukia said, handing him a plate. There was 2 burnt poptarts and donut that looked to old and melty.

"Uh….no thanks. I'll skip today," Renji said.

"Ok, but don't complain that your hungry later," Rukia said.

**End Flashback**

They continued walking and headed inside the school building. Everyone was staring at them. Well, they were staring at Renji and Hitsugaya.

"Wow, look at that guy's hair," someone said pointing at Renji's hair.

"Ahhhh! Look at the guy with the white hair! He is so HOT!" a group of girls squealed, staring at Hitsugaya. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Hey we are famous!" Renji said looking around.

"Here's our class," Rukia said as they stopped in front of the door. She opened it to reveal a classroom full of students.

"Kurosaki-kun! Kuchiki-san!" a voice called out.

"Hey Inoue," Rukia greeted as the orange-haired girl came closer.

"What are they-," Inoue started to say but Rukia interrupted her.

"Sshhh…..I'll tell you later," Rukia told her. Inoue nodded.

"Well I have to go to a doctor's appointment today but I came to school to get the homework I needed. I will see you tomorrow then," Inoue said.

"Hey why don't you come over to Ichigo's house after school?" Renji said suddenly. "Maybe you could make us dinner."

"RENJI!" Rukia scolded. He didn't know that Inoue had umm…..a different taste of food than what people were used to.

"That's okay Kuchiki-san," Inoue said cheerfully. "I would love to come over and make dinner…if I can."

"Yeah. You can come anytime. You know that," Ichigo said.

"Ok. Then see you after school then," Rukia said. Inoue said goodbye and left the classroom.

"Man, you guys have a lot of chairs," Renji suddenly said looking around the classroom.

"Oh, can I sit in the back?" Ganju asked looking at the classroom seats.

"No, all the seats are taken from the back," Ichigo said. He said this because he sat in the back with Rukia and Chad. Even though Chad wasn't here—he wasn't going to be in school for the next 3 days—Ichigo knew the teacher wouldn't give out his seat. Ishida sat in the front and Inoue was on the other side of the room.

Finally all the students had entered the class and were seated in their seats. Hitsugaya, Renji, and Ganju were the only ones that were standing up. The teacher walked in and stood in front of the class.

"Good morning!" she said in a loud voice. Everyone quieted down immediately. "I see we have three new students. Please introduce yourselves while I search for our seating chart so I can find a seat for you."

Everyone stared at the three guys. Ganju and Hitsugaya looked at Renji.

"Uh…my name is Abarai Renji. I'm from Sou- I mean ah….I am from far away and yeah…….," Renji said as he turned to look at Hitsugaya who was frowning.

"My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro," was all the captain said. He turned to look at Ganju.

"Hey, I'm Shiba Ganju," Ganju said waving at everyone.

"Okay. Now can you each give me your address and phone number? I need it to fill out an information card," the teacher said.

"Uh…..," Renji said.

"Sensei!" Rukia suddenly spoke up in her sweetest voice.

"Yes?" The teacher said looking at Rukia.

"They are staying at my house. That's why they don't know the address and phone number," Rukia said.

"Oh….are you related?" The teacher said looking at the three.

"Yeah," Ganju said. Hitsugaya and Renji nodded.

"Well you should have said that sooner! There's no need to be shy," The teacher said. "Kuchiki-san, could you please come up and fill in their information cards?"

"Yes sensei," Rukia said standing up. She walked to the teacher's desk and filled out the cards.

"Well…..now where will I put you?" The teacher said out loud looking around the class. "I want you three to sit near Rukia so that she can help you…hmm…we have quite a large class already."

In the end, the seating chart went like this. Ichigo was in the back corner with Rukia and then Renji. Then in front of Ichigo was Ganju's seat and next to him was Hitsugaya, followed by Chad if he had been there.

"There! Now that we are all settled, please take out a pencil and a sheet of notebook paper. Oh, and to the new students, please pick up your uniforms after school in the main office," the teacher said.

Rukia gave Hitsugaya, Renji, and Ganju each a sheet of paper and a pencil. Ichigo didn't have either items as well so she gave some to him.

"Please work on the problems on the board. When you're done, we will go over the answers as a class," the teacher said before returning to her desk.

Hitsugaya stared at the problems on the board.

_This is too simple, he thought as he began to work on the problems._

Ganju picked up his pencil and began writing down answers.

_Hmm…the answer to number one is….two! Yes, only 9 more to go. Now let's see….the answer to number two will be…two again, he though to himself as he began to fill up his blank sheet of paper._

Renji didn't understand how to do the problems.

_Why do we have to learn this anyway? He thought. _He turned to look at Rukia, who was busy answering the problems.

"Hey Rukia! How do you do this?" He asked her in a low voice.

Rukia turned to look at him. "You don't remember?" she asked him.

"Remember what? I never did this stuff in my life!" Renji replied.

"Yes you did," Rukia replied back. "You just don't remember."

"No, I never did this stuff! Stop saying things that aren't true," Renji said.

"What? You are the one that is saying things that aren't true," Rukia shot back. _How could he forget? She thought. _

"I think I would remember this," Renji said. "So tell me how to do it."

"Fine, but one day I will find that test paper that proves that you knew this stuff," Rukia said. It had to be somewhere in Soul Society. She explained to Renji exactly how to do the problems. She must have gone on in very long details because when she looked at Renji, he was sleeping.

"RENJI!" Rukia shouted at him. This woke him up immediately. The whole class had turned to look at them.

"Hey Rukia, shut up!" Ichigo said in a low voice.

Rukia turned back to her work.

"Is there a problem back there?" the teacher called out. Before Rukia could answer, Renji suddenly spoke up.

"No sensei….I was just being stupid so…that's why Rukia shouted," Renji said.

"Oh," was what the teacher responded.

Renji turned to Rukia. "Sorry Rukia."

"That's okay, you baka. Just listen next time," Rukia said. She picked up Renji's blank sheet of paper and did the problems. She handed it back to him.

"Thanks," Renji said as he put his name at the top.

"Hey Rukia…...how do you do number 7?" Ichigo asked slowly.

"You don't know how to do it? Here…use mine," Renji said as he passed Ichigo his paper.

"I didn't ask you Renji. Besides…it's probably wrong," Ichigo said looking at his paper. _Wait a minute, he thought looking at the paper before him. This looks like……_

"I did it for him," Rukia said. "They are correct."

"What!" Ichigo said.

Rukia nodded. "They are correct."

"You better not get caught," Ichigo said looking at Renji's paper. He passed it back to Renji.

"Don't worry. She's not collecting it," Rukia said.

Ganju turned around to look at Ichigo and Rukia. "Wait, if the teacher is not collecting it…then why do we have to do them in the first place?"

"To practice and learn," Hitsugaya responded.

Ganju turned back to his work. Finally the teacher spoke.

"Okay, now we will go over the answers. Abarai-kun, why don't you start us off. Please share with us your answer to #1," the teacher said.

Renji stood up. "Uh….the answer to number one is 7,500 km."

"Very good," the teacher said. "Shiba-kun, why don't you go next?"

Ganju stood up slowly and cleared his throat. "The answer is two."

"Two?" the teacher asked puzzled. "How did you get two?"

"Uh…...," Ganju said as he looked down at his paper. "I don't remember."

"Okay…Hitsugaya-kun, why don't you do the next problem?" the teacher asked him.

Histsugaya sighed. It was taichou! TAICHOU! Of course he couldn't say that to the teacher but still he hated being called anything besides Hitsugaya-taichou.

"32," he called out.

**Ring. Ring.**

The lunch bell rang.

**Lunch **

"Finally…..lunch time!" Renji shouted as the group headed outside. After a long 25 minutes of waiting in the school lunch line, they had finally gotten their lunch.

"Where are we going to sit?" Ganju asked looking around. All the tables outside were taken.

"How about under that tree?" Rukia said ahead.

"Ok," Renji said. They walked towards the tree. When they reached it, they sat down under the shade.

"I am so hungry!" Ganju asked biting into his sandwich.

"Hey don't look now Hitsugaya-taichou but it looks like you have some fans," Renji said pointing at the table nearest them.

"What?" Hitsugaya said looking. Three girls were staring at him and giggling. One had black hair and the other two had short brown hair.

"Ahahahahahaha," Ganju said laughing. Renji was grinning and Rukia was smiling.

"Whatever," Hitsugaya said turning his head away.

"Come on, don't be _shy_," Ichigo said looking at the captain.

"Shut up Kurosaki," Hitsugaya responded.

"I wonder what everyone else is doing in Soul Society," Renji wondered outloud.

"Don't remind me. I can just imagine what Matsumoto is doing right now," Hitsugaya said frowning.

"Ha, I wonder what Nee-chan is doing. She had better not move the house or I'm going to have a hard time getting home," Ganju said.

"I wonder why Kuchiki-taichou wanted me to return," Renji said. After that, everyone ate in silence. After a while, Ganju spoke.

"Hey….I've been wondering since this morning but why are there blue balloons all over the school?" Ganju asked. There weren't that many around but there was enough to show that something was going on.

"Oh…._those_," Ichigo said. "It's almost the 'Spring Dance.' The school holds one every year around the same time. They put up blue balloons because the gym is always decorated in blue so that's the sign that it's coming near."

"We'll probably have an assembly about it soon," Rukia said. Ichigo nodded.

"Oh….so uh are we going to have to go to the dance too?" Renji asked.

"What? I'm not going to the dance. You can go if you want. If you can get a _date_," Ichigo smirked.

"Just asking. What, Ichigo don't tell me you have never been to the 'Spring Dance' because you couldn't get a date," Renji said grinning.

"Shut up," Ichigo said looking away. It's true that he had never asked anyone…but that's because he didn't want to go to the dance in the first place.

"Well actually you were going to go last year….remember Ichigo?" Rukia said smiling. "Only you got sick the day of the dance."

"Sure….perfect timing," Renji said. "So who were you going to go with? Your imaginary friend?"

"No, we were going to go in a group," Rukia responded.

"Hey why don't we go in a group?" Ganju asked. Everyone turned to look at him.

"I'm not going with…ICHIGO," Renji said turning away.

"Ha….like I want to be seen with YOU at the dance," Ichigo responded.

"You can't even get a date!" Renji responded.

"Oh yeah? Well I bet I can get a date first than you," Ichigo responded.

"Fine. First one to get a date wins," Renji said.

"Fine," Ichigo said.

"Ha, I'm going to win this for sure!" Renji shouted.

"Uh…..okay," Ganju said looking at Renji and Ichigo.

"Whatever," Hitsugaya said. "I'm not going to any dance."

"Me neither," Ganju said although he really did want to go.

Suddenly the bell rang.

**Ring. Ring.**

"Time to go back to class," Rukia said getting up.

"Race you there," Renji told Ichigo.

"Ha, I'm going to win!" Ichigo said. The two took off running as fast as they could.

"Why did I have to end up _here_?" Hitsugaya asked himself out loud. The remaining three started walking towards the school building.

The rest of the day went quickly. Ganju got lost walking around the school looking for the bathroom but thankfully, he had found it just in time. Renji had started looking for a date but everyone either already had one or they weren't going to attend. Ichigo had asked one girl but it didn't turn out the way he had expected…..

**5 minutes before class starts…**

"Hey Kiko-san!" Ichigo called out to a girl that was at her locker. She had long black hair and her hands were full of books.

"Hey Kurosaki-kun," She said heading towards him.

"Hey….uh….I was…just wondering…..um…..if you…..ah were going to the Spring Dance?" He blurted out.

"Oh…...I am but um…I really was just planning to go with my friends," She responded.

_She didn't want to go with him!_

"I mean…..you are a nice guy and everything but um…I don't have the same feelings so…..I'm so sorry!" she said as she walked hurriedly past him.

"What? Wait….Kiko-san." Ichigo called out but she didn't stop.

_Great, he thought, now she thinks I like her. This is great. Just great. I thought this was going to be easy. I mean if I ask any girl to the dance they will probably think that…..but I just want to win…._

**Meanwhile in class…**

Renji was sitting in his seat staring out the window. He had asked every girl in the class and they all had some excuse. Some already had dates so there was nothing he could do about that but others made up lame excuses like….

"I have to uh….wash my Dad's car that day."

"I have to take my cat to the vet."

Then finally, one girl had told him the truth.

**Flashback…**

"Hey, do you want to go to the dance with me?" Renji asked the brown haired girl.

"Umm….well….I _was_ looking for a date but…you're….I don't know how to say….you seem kind of wild I just…..I just want this night to be special," she said quietly.

"Huh?" Renji said. He sighed. He just didn't get girls.

"So who are you going to ask?" Renji said curious. All the boys in the class seemed immature to him.

"Well…..I was thinking…..of you know your relative……the one with the white hair……Hitsugaya-kun," she said quietly.

"Oh, him huh?" Renji said, a grin forming on his face.

The girl nodded. She looked at the floor.

"Well don't worry about it. He will gladly accept," Renji told her.

"Really?" she said looking up. "Wait, how do you know that he wants to go?"

"Well…..don't tell anyone but…._he has never been to a dance before_," Renji whispered.

"Really? Oh, is he shy?" she asked.

"You could say that," Renji said. "So what do you think? Want to go to the dance with him?"

"I would love to!" she said happily.

"Okay, uh…give me your phone number and address," he said.

"Ok," she said taking out a piece of paper and a pen from her desk. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Renji said heading towards his desk. _This was going to be great._

"Oh, I'm Sakura by the way," she called out.

Renji stopped and turned around. _He had forgotten to get her name!_

"Sorry about that, I'm Renji," he said embarrassed.

"That's ok," she said and took her seat.

"_I'm so stupid!" he thought to himself as he walked back to his seat._

**End Flashback…**

So here he was, sitting at his desk planning a date for Sakura and Hitsugaya-taichou.

**Ring. Ring.**

Class had officially started. Students came in and took their seats. Ichigo appeared in the classroom door wonder if he got a date already, Renji thought.

The remaining hour of class went by pretty fast. It was Study Hall so it was mostly quiet.

**Ring. Ring.**

Finally school was over. The students rushed out of the classrooms. Ichigo, Rukia, and the others said their goodbyes and headed down to the main office to pick up the uniforms.

**10 Minutes Later… **

"Ahh….finally we are free!" Renji said as he and the others walked back home.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Rukia asked him. She was walking beside him and the other three were in front of them.

"Naw, not that bad," Renji responded. He was looking at all the little stores and places they were passing……the Candy Store, Wall-Mall, some kind of jail and………….

"So Renji, what shall I make for dinner today? You have to eat something," Rukia said. "Renji?"

She turned to look at him and found him a few feet behind her staring at a………………

* * *

YAY! Finally I'm done with this! Hehehe Inoue and Chad weren't at school and I forgot about Ishida! Sorry about that. I will put them later (Chad and Ishida)...it's hard writing 3 characters besides Rukia and Ichigo but that's the point of writing a story I guess. So what is Renji staring at...I don't think anyone will guess...kinda weird well not really but I don't know! Oh and if any one has any suggestions, feel free to tell me. I have some ideas in my brain but I don't know...they are kinda weird...like this chappie...it was weird. Well got to sleep now, I'm tired! 


	7. Chapter 7

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. This is my first Bleach story.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **Just to remind you…it's Monday after school. On Sunday, everyone came and now it turned to Monday.

**Chapter 7:** What Happened After School

Where we last left off...

"Ahh….finally we are free!" Renji said as he and the others walked back home.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Rukia asked him. She was walking beside him and the other three were in front of them.

"Naw, not that bad," Renji responded. He was looking at all the little stores and places they were passing……the Candy Store, Wall-Mall, some kind of jail and………….

"So Renji, what shall I make for dinner today? You have to eat something," Rukia said. "Renji?"

She turned to look at him and found him a few feet behind her staring at a….

Pizza Palace Restaurant!

"Rukia, look at all those pizzas," Renji said pointing at the window in front of him. There was a little kitchen and then right in front stood shelves were all types of pizzas stood.

"Hey what are you guys doing?" Ganju asked turning to look at them.

"Let's get pizza again," Hitsugaya said heading towards Rukia and Renji.

"Fine," Ichigo said following the captain. He didn't feel like making anything and he really didn't want to eat Rukia's food today.

"Yes!" Renji shouted. He went inside the restaurant followed by Rukia, Ganju, Hitsugaya, and finally Ichigo.

Inside, the walls were covered in red wallpaper with pizza topping decorations everywhere. There were red tables and chairs scattered all over the place and to their right was the kitchen door and cash register.

"Hmmm……what should we get this time?" Renji said looking above at the menu.

"Let's get the same as last time," Rukia said.

"Yeah! It was…uhh…..3 large pizzas…..1 pepperoni, 1 sausage, and the other one mushroom," Ganju said. Hitsugaya nodded.

"Ok then. Let's order," Hitsugaya said. Nobody was at the register.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Renji called out.

Suddenly, a man appeared from the kitchen door. He had black pants, a red shirt, and black glasses. He looked like he was in his 30's.

"So sorry to keep you waiting," the man said. "We are having some trouble around here. Anyways, what would you like to order?"

"What kind of trouble?" Renji asked.

"Oh the usual. One of my delivery guys quit yesterday and today everyone seems to be dead," he said with a shrug.

Ichigo looked at the man. He had a white sticker below his right shoulder that read "Mr. Jerry, Manager."

"So does that mean you are hiring, Mr. Jerry?" Ichigo asked him. He had just gotten a great idea.

"Yes. Would you like to work here?" Mr. Jerry said excitedly. "I know there's no sign posted outside but I have been busy."

"No…not me….._him_," Ichigo said pushing Renji forward.

"Him?" The man said looking at Renji.

"Wait, what?" Renji said confused.

"You are going to work here…..and pay me back my money," Ichigo said grinning.

"I can really work here?" Renji asked.

"Ah…well first I need to have an interview with you," Mr. Jerry said. Renji looked at Ichigo.

"We can wait," Ichigo said.

"Whatever," Hitsugaya said. "But can I at least get a coke?"

"Yes, right away," Mr. Jerry opening a fridge and giving Hitsugaya his drink.

"Thanks," Hitsugaya said opening his drink. "Kurosaki will pay." Ichigo looked at the captain and sighed. He opened his wallet and paid for the drink.

"Ok then. This way please, young man," Mr. Jerry said. Renji followed the man.

They went past the kitchen and entered a small office with a table in the center and chairs beside it. The walls were bare and it smelled strongly of…pizza.

"Ok, so what do I do?" Renji said sitting down into the comfortable, leather chair.

"First, what is your name?" Mr. Jerry said taking out his notepad.

"Abarai Renji," Renji said.

"I'm Mr. Jerry. Just call me 'Jerry,'" he said.

"Ok," Renji responded.

"Question one…..Do you live near here Abarai-kun?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah I guess," Renji said.

"Ok. Good. Question two…..do you go to school or do you have a job somewhere else by any chance?" Jerry said.

"Yeah, I go to school," Renji said.

"What time do you get out?" Jerry asked.

"Uh….like at three in the afternoon. We just got out," Renji responded.

"Excellent! Now the last question……do you like pizza Abarai-kun?" Jerry asked.

"Uh…..yeah," Renji said. He had just tried pizza but he had found that he had liked it.

"Hmmm……what was that?" Jerry asked frowning.

"What was what?" Renji said looking at the man in front of him. _This guy he's……_

"That pause…" Jerry said, still frowning.

"Huh?" Renji said confused. _He's…_

"When I asked you that last question….you didn't answer immediately," Jerry explained.

"Uh……"

"Do you _really _like pizza Abarai-kun? Huh? Or are you really a pizza hater who wants to come here and destroy my business? Huh?" Jerry accused him.

"What?!?! No! I like pizza. If I wanted to destroy your business, I would hav- uh…never mind but really I like pizza and I really need a job. Like you heard, I owe Ichigo $20," Renji said.

Jerry stared at Renji for a minute. Then….

"Congratulations Abarai-kun! You are hired!" Jerry said jumping from his seat.

**10 Minutes Later…**

"Can we go now?" Ganju said. "The pizzas are getting cold."

"I know, I know. We have to wait for Renji," Ichigo said. _What is taking them so long?_

"I don't understand why you guys won't just eat here?" Rukia said looking at Ichigo.

"Because….it feels….._weird _here," Ganju whispered. Hitsugaya sighed.

Suddenly, the kitchen door burst open and out appeared Renji. He was wearing long black pants, a red shirt with the words "Pizza Palace" written across it, and a red headband with Renji's name written in white.

"Hey guys. Guess what? I'm hired," Renji said grinning.

Ichigo, Rukia, Hitsugaya, and Ganju stared in shock. The way Renji looked…..he looked almost like a normal, every day high school guy who had just gotten a job at Pizza Palace. Also, he looked kind of….._weird._

"What do you think? You are looking at Pizza Palace's new delivery guy! Isn't this great?" Jerry said. He looked very excited.

_This guy……he's really into pizza, everyone thought._

"See you tomorrow at three, Abarai-kun!" Jerry said waving goodbye as they left the restaurant.

"Well….that was interesting," Hitsugaya said. _I wish Kuchiki-taichou could have seen this._

"Yeah," Ichigo replied. _Man, I am never going to work at a pizza place!_

"Are we there yet? I'm hungry!" Ganju said. _I wonder if there are any big slices in the sausage pizza…_

"So Renji's going to be the delivery guy? Hmm….I wonder what Nii-sama would have said if he was here," Rukia said teasingly.

"Kuchiki-taichou! I don't know….I'm just doing this because I owe Ichigo his stupid dollars….it's not like I'm going to enjoy this or anything," Renji said looking away.

"Sure. Whatever you say Renji," Rukia said. She knew that in the end, he would end up loving the job.

Finally, they reached the house. They went inside and entered the kitchen.

"Ahh….it's good to be back," Ganju said sitting down. He opened one of the pizza boxes and started to search for the biggest slice.

"Hey, wasn't Inoue going to come over? I'll go call her," Rukia said leaving the kitchen.

"Hey….I forgot to ask earlier but how is your 'date-search' going eh Ichigo?" Ganju said with his mouth full of pizza.

"Hmph," Ichigo said, not looking at Ganju. "I'm doing fine…and you Renji?"

"Oh….._that. _Yeah, I got it all figured out," Renji said grinning. Ichigo stared at Renji.

_Damn……I better find someone quick, Ichigo thought._

"Inoue's on her way," Rukia said entering the kitchen. She sat down and grabbed herself a paper plate.

"Hey Rukia, are you going?" Ganju asked.

"Go where?" Rukia responded. She had not heard their conversation.

"The dance," Ganju said.

"Oh….I don't know. This year everyone has separate plans and I don't know… so….probably not," Rukia said looking at her pepperoni pizza.

"Hey Rukia," Renji said suddenly, "Why don't you go with me?"

Everyone stared at him. Even Hitsugaya, who was desperately trying not to spill out his drink, was staring at the vice-captain.

"W-What?" Rukia stuttered. She looked at Renji.

"HEY RENJI! THAT DOESN'T COUNT!" Ichigo yelled, getting up and staring at Renji.

"Why not? Besides, I would rather go with Rukia to the dance rather than some girl I don't even know," Renji said in serious voice. The events from this morning had made him realize how he did not want to go to the dance with some stranger. This way, he could actually have fun at the dance _and_ win their little contest.

"So what do you say Rukia?" Renji asked again. "Will you be my partner at the school dance?"

Rukia was about to speak when –

"Hello everyone!" Inoue said entering the room. "Sorry for barging in but the door was open so I just let myself in."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Hey Inoue, here sit next to me," Rukia suddenly said motioning at the chair next to her.

"Thanks, Kuchiki-san," Inoue said sitting down next to her friend. She served herself some pizza and began eating.

After explaining to Inoue what had happened, the conversation died down.

The dinner conversation went something like this –

"Can you pass the pepper Ganju?"

"Hey Renji, gimme some napkins."

"Inoue, what are you putting on your pizza?"

"Hey! You're spilling your coke all over my pizza!"

"WOW! Look at the size of that slice!" and

"Umm……you don't eat that white triangle thing you know?"

**30 Minutes Later…**

"Well, I better get going," Inoue said cheerfully. "I have to get home and start my homework."

"Yeah, thanks for coming Inoue," Ichigo said.

"See you all tomorrow!" She said and with that, she left the house. Ichigo closed the door and noticed that Hitsugaya had already left the kitchen. Renji and Ganju were in the living room and Rukia was just coming out of the kitchen.

She was heading up the stairs when she stopped and turned to look at Renji.

"Hey Renji," She called out.

"Hm?" Renji responded looking at her.

"I will be your partner at the dance," Rukia said grinning, "So you better remember." She turned and went up the stairs.

Renji turned his attention to the screen. Ichigo noticed he was smiling.

"Hey Ichigo," Renji said staring at the screen.

"Don't. I know you-" Ichigo started to say but Renji cut him off.

"Forget about that," Renji said looking at Ichigo. "Just find someone who you can be yourself when you're with them and join us. Let's all go and have some fun. It's time we did something….you know, normal."

Ichigo was surprised at what Renji had said. _Was a shinigami's life that different?_

"Sure," he responded. "Let's all go." He sat down on the couch and started watching TV.

Later Hitsugaya came downstairs and joined them for a change. After awhile, the taichou spoke.

"Change the channel," Hitsugaya said.

"What? Why? This is a good program," Ichigo said.

"Change the channel. Don't you have anything else to watch beside people kicking a ball around?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Fine, pick whatever," Ichigo said throwing the remote at Hitsugaya, who caught it easily.

"Hey taichou…..are _you_ going to the dance?" Renji asked suddenly.

"No," Hitsugaya responded without blinking an eye. He continued switching the channels.

"Come on taichou! You have to come. If you're worried about a date, I know how to fix that problem," Renji said looking at the captain.

"No," Hitsugaya responded again. "And why are you so interested if I'm going or not Abarai? Surely, my presence at this dance isn't needed."

"Actually…..it is needed taichou," Renji said turning away. "I uh….kinda set up a 'date' for you."

"WHAT!" Hitsugaya said in a loud voice. The room temperature had suddenly gone down.

"Hey keep it down! I'm trying to watch TV here," Ganju said but no one listened.

"Abarai, I am NOT going to the dance," Hitsugaya said staring at Renji.

"But she's really excited about it. How can I go to class tomorrow and tell her huh?" Renji said.

"Wait, is this 'girl' in our class?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. Her name is Sakura. I talked to her and she really wants to go to the dance with taichou over there," Renji said looking at Hitsugaya.

"Abarai," Hitsugaya said in a threatening voice.

"But fine, if you want to break her heart fine. It's not my _date_," Renji said turning his attention to the screen.

"It's not mine either," Hitsugaya said. "I can get a date by myself. I don't need your help. Besides, I don't want to go and I'm not going."

_Man, he is so stubborn, Renji thought, Well I guess I better do plan B._

"Hey, where are you going?" Ichigo asked Renji, who was getting up from the couch.

"Eh, I'm just going upstairs," Renji responded.

Ichigo turned back to the screen and saw the soccer game back on.

"Couldn't find anything else taichou? I thought you didn't like this program," Ichigo said grinning.

"Shut up Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said.

**Upstairs…**

"Hey Rukia. Is there a phone up here?" Renji asked. He had entered Ichigo's room and had found Rukia sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah….it's over there," She said pointing at the white phone on the desk.

"Thanks," Renji said grabbing it. "Hey, are you okay?" He had noticed that Rukia was covering her stomach.

"It's nothing. I just ate too much," Rukia said. "Anyways, who are you calling?"

"Sakura from our class," Renji responded. "I set Hitsugaya-taichou on a date with her and he doesn't want to go so I have to call her."

"Wait, what? You set him on a date? Hitsugaya-taichou?" Rukia said with a surprised look on her face.

"Well she really wanted to go with him so I thought why not? Don't worry, I have another plan so that he _will_ go to that dance," Renji said confidently. He punched in the phone number she had given him and waited.

"Hello?" A girl's voice answered.

"Hey, Sakura? It's me Renji," He said.

"Hey. Yes, I remember. Did you need something?" She said.

"Yeah….I was wondering if you could….."

**20 Minutes Later…**

Renji and Rukia had gone downstairs and joined the rest.

"Well, I'm going to go take a bath," Hitsugaya said getting up from the couch.

"I'm next!" Ganju shouted.

"No I am," Renji said.

"None of you are. I go after," Ichigo said.

"Oh yeah? I'll rock-paper-scissors you," Renji said extending his arm.

"I'm going to win," Ichigo said.

"Yeah right," Ganju said joining in.

ROCK. PAPER. SCISSORS.

"Ahahahahahaha! Beat ya both, rock beats scissors," Renji shouted.

"Whatever," Ichigo muttered.

After Hitsugaya had finished taking his bath, Renji went into the bathroom.

"Hey Ichigo. Did you do the homework for math already?" Ganju asked.

"Yeah. Why? Need to see it?" Ichigo said handing the notebook over.

"Yeah. I don't know how to do this stuff," Ganju said. He copied down Ichigo's answers.

After 2 hours, everyone had taken their baths.

"Don't forget to wear your uniforms tomorrow," Rukia said. Ganju nodded.

"Awww….do we really have to?" Renji said remembering how the uniforms looked like.

"Yes you do," Rukia said dragging her blanket over to the couch.

"Well good night and Renji you better wake up early tomorrow," Ichigo said grinning. "You wouldn't want this morning's incident to happen again, do you?

"Ha. You were the one with the blanket over his head," Renji said sitting down on the couch.

Ichigo and Ganju went upstairs. Hitsugaya appeared from the kitchen with a glass of water.

"Hey taichou! Good night!" Renji called out.

Hitsugaya stared at him. _Hmm…Renji's too happy._ He shrugged off the bad feeling he was getting and went upstairs.

Rukia turned off the lights and stared at the living room ceiling.

"Hey Renji, your plan better work," she said.

"It will. Trust me. Well, goodnight Rukia," Renji said pulling his blanket over his body.

**Tuesday…7:45 a.m.**

"Come on Renji! Let's go," Ichigo said. He was in the front door waiting fro Renji to come out. The others were already dressed in their school uniforms and were waiting outside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! It's not like we are going to be late or anything," Renji said. He stepped outside and Ichigo locked the door.

"Let's go," Rukia said. They headed towards the high school.

**A couple minutes later…**

They had finally arrived at the school. The halls were full of students talking and heading towards their classrooms.

Renji opened their classroom door.

"Hitsugaya-kun!"

* * *

Ahhhhhh finally I had some time to finish. Another weird chappie...not much happened. Just wait till Wednesday and Friday...which will the the day of the dance, I just haven't mentioned the exact date yet on here. Well hope you enjoy and feel free to review D 


	8. Chapter 8

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. Or any of the names from other anime that also don't belong to me...

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **Hello's!!! Holidays are near yummy yummy food soon! XD I'm hungry……..well here's chappie 8! I'm a bad updater person……seriously I had the ideas but not the time. Here's another…..weird chappie. Hope you enjoy and thanks to everyone who reviewed. Some of you gave me ideas...now I know what to do.

**Chapter 8:** Blue

Where we last left off...

**Tuesday…7:45 a.m.**

"Come on Renji! Let's go," Ichigo said. He was in the front door waiting for Renji to come out. The others were already dressed in their school uniforms and were waiting outside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. It's not like we are going to be late or anything," Renji said. He stepped outside and Ichigo locked the door.

"Let's go," Rukia said. They headed towards the high school.

**A couple minutes later…**

They had finally arrived at the school. The halls were full of students talking and heading towards their classrooms.

Renji opened their classroom door.

"Hitsugaya-kun!"

Sakura stood in front of them, her eyes shining bright. She was holding a beautiful blue dress in front of her. She looked rather….sparkly today as well.

"Good morning Hitsugaya-kun! Look at the dress I am going to be wearing for the dance. I heard it was your favorite color so I picked this one! What do you think?" Sakura said cheerfully.

"Ah…..Abarai," Hitsugaya said turning to look at Renji but he was nowhere to be seen.

"It's beautiful!" Rukia suddenly said, looking at Sakura. "I'm sure you guys will have lots of fun, right _Hitsugaya-kun_."

Hitsugaya stared at Rukia. Rukia smiled her fake smile at him.

_You guys…..Hitsugaya thought._

"Hey guys! Come over here!" Renji called out from the hallway. Ganju and Ichigo went out into the hallway where a large group of students had gathered around the school windows.

"Hey Sakura! Come over here!" A girl called out. She was among the large group of students gathered.

Sakura walked over to see what the group was staring at.

"Come on, Hitsugaya-taichou," Rukia said, dragging Hitsugaya along.

There on one of the school windows were the words painted in blue paint…….

'SAKURA, WILL YOU GO TO THE SPRING DANCE WITH ME?

SIGNED, HITSUGAYA'

"Awwww," A group of girls cried out. "Sakura, you are soooo lucky!"

Sakura was speechless. This was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. The window also had confetti and strings decorated around the words.

Everyone turned to look at Hitsugaya…..who looked more surprised than Sakura.

"Yes, I would like to go to the dance with you. It must have been hard for you to do this (1). It's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thanks," Sakura said hugging her dress close.

"So what time are you picking her up _Hitsugaya-kun_?" Renji asked. Hitsugaya looked up at Renji and saw that he was grinning like crazy. He also noticed that Renji had small blue paint drops all over his pants.

_Abarai….I'm going to kill you, Hitsugaya thought._

Everyone stared at him, waiting for his answer.

Hitsugaya looked at Sakura, who looked like the happiest girl in the whole wide world, and said in a low voice, "I'll pick you up at 7 in the afternoon if you would like."

Everyone burst into cheers.

"That's great," Sakura responded. "Well I have to go now. I have a doctor's appointment today so see you on Friday then!" She quickly hugged the shocked captain and left.

"Awww," The group of girls squealed.

"Abarai….I need to talk to you _now_," Hitsugaya said walking towards Renji.

Before Hitsugaya could kill Renji, seriously, someone called out his name.

"HITSUGAYA-KUN! Come to my office right _now_."

Everyone turned and stared at the man who had spoken. He was wearing a white shirt with a red collar and black pants.

"Shit…..the principal," Ichigo said under his breath.

Ganju stared at the man and turned to look at Ichigo, "Who is that?"

Ichigo responded, "It's the guy who runs the school and makes you follow all the stupid rules. He is the reason why we must wake up early every single morning."

"Oh," Ganju said nodding, turning to look at the principal.

"Why?" Hitsugaya asked, not moving from his spot. "Why must I go to your office?"

"Why? WHY? You dare ask me that question, Hitsugaya-kun? You have defaced school property. Look at that," He said pointing at the colorful blue window behind him.

"So?" Hitsugaya responded. He was pissed off already and this man was bothering him.

"So? Is that all you can say? Please come with me Hitsugaya-kun or I will have to call the security guards," The principal said, looking like he was going to explode.

Rukia appeared next to the captain and whispered softly, "Just go Hitsugaya-taichou. You have to act like these humans or you'll just draw more attention to yourself."

"Fine, I'll go," Hitsugaya responded. He knew that Rukia was right. Hitsugaya walked towards the principal and everyone stared at them until they disappeared out of sight. After that, everyone started heading back to class except Renji, Rukia, Ganju, and Ichigo.

"What's going to happen to him?" Renji said looking worried. He didn't know that what he had done was against the school rules.

"Don't worry about it. He'll probably get detention or something. They go easy on the new students," Ichigo said. Renji stared at the window he had apparently defaced.

"Well that was something huh? I never thought Hitsugaya-taichou would do that…..you know ask someone out," Ganju said. Ichigo stared at his friend.

"He didn't Ganju. I did that…and wasn't it great? Told ya it would work Rukia," Renji said grinning. "He can't say 'no' to a happy girl." He remembered the phone call he had made last night…….

**Flashback**

He punched in the phone number Sakura had given him and waited.

"Hello?" A girl's voice answered.

"Hey, Sakura? It's me Renji," He said.

"Hey. Yes, I remember. Did you need something?" She said.

"Yeah….I was wondering if you could do something for Hitsugaya-kun tomorrow," Renji said.

"Sure. What do you want me to do?" She asked. "Oh, and does he…you know…want to go?"

"You'll see tomorrow. He has a surprise for you so just wait.. Anyways, I just wanted to ask you if you had already bought a dress for the dance," Renji asked her.

"Oh….well I have two dresses but I don't know…one's red and the other one is blue. I was wondering ……do you….by any chance know his favorite color?" Sakura said softly.

"Yeah, it's blue. That's his favorite color," Renji said excitedly. "Bring it to school tomorrow so he can see it….so you know….he can start getting ready to pick his own clothes."

"That's a great idea! And you said he has surprise for me? What is it?" Sakura said curiously.

"You'll see tomorrow. Well that is all I wanted to tell you and don't worry, we'll be there in the morning," Renji said. "See you soon."

"Ok. Thanks Renji!" Sakura said and hung up the phone.

Renji turned to look at Rukia and said, "Tomorrow is going to be a great day for Hitsugaya-taichou."

**End Flashback**

"Oh," Ganju said finally getting it. "He is going to kill you, you know."

"I know," Renji said. "Maybe if I bring pizza from work today…….."

"YEAH!" Ganju said excitedly. "FREE PIZZA!"

"I guess you can do that..…..just bring some hot wings too," Ichigo said. "I need to eat something else. Man, you guys are going to get sick eating pizza for too long."

"Yeah right!" Renji said. "Get sick from eating pizza? That's impossible!"

"Whatever, then," Ichigo responded.

"Come on you guys. We are going to be late to class," Rukia said. They all walked back to the classroom.

* * *

**Meanwhile...in the principal's office…**

Hitsugaya was sitting down in one of the several chairs the principal's office had. The room was big, almost the same size as a classroom. The walls were covered with awards and class pictures. Everything was shiny and clean. There was not one paper out of place and the whole room felt…..well nice….even though it was the principal's office. The principal by the way, had left Hitsugaya alone in his office. He said he was going to go "get something to drink" before he dealt with him.

_I wished our Division Quarters looked like this, Hitsugaya thought to himself._

The door burst open and there stood the principal.

"Good, you're still here," He said looking relieved. Sometimes, he took so long in getting his coffee that the student would leave his office, which of course irritated the principal. Hitsugaya stared at the man as he entered the room and took a seat behind the large desk in the corner.

"You have a very organized office, Mr. Katakura," Hitsugaya said, reading the name plate in front of the desk.

"Now, now. Don't think that I'll let you go with those compliments of yours," Mr. Katakura responded. Still, he looked a bit pleased that someone had noticed his efforts to be neat and tidy.

"So, what are you going to do?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Well, since it's your first time….and your last time right, breaking the rules, I won't call your parents this time," The principal said staring at the white-haired guy in front of him. Hitsugaya just nodded, looking bored.

_Well, time to go kill Abarai, Hitsugaya thought. _

"Well, I should be heading back to class then," Hitsugaya said getting up from his seat.

"Not so fast, Hitsugaya-kun," The principal said motioned him to sit back down. Hitsugaya sighed and sat back down on the chair.

"You will have a detention after school today from 3 pm to 5 pm in room A-14," Mr. Katakura said handing Hitsugaya a blue slip of paper with the room number written on it. "Have the teacher in charge sign this and bring it to me tomorrow morning. Also, during your lunch period today, kindly clean the window with soap and water."

"Excuse me, but what do I need for detention?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Need? You don't need anything my dear boy! You will sit there for two hours to think about what you have done. I think that is punishment enough," The principal said.

_You have to be kidding me, Hitsugaya thought._

"You may return to your classroom, Hitsugaya-kun. I hope this will be the last time you have to come into my office," The principal said.

Hitsugaya stood up and left the room. He headed back to class but before that, he stopped in front of the window he had supposedly defaced. A memory came to his mind.

**Flashback**

"Shiro-chan! Wait for me!" Hinamori called out as she ran to catch up to Hitsugaya.

"Come on. You're too slow," Hitsugaya responded but he slowed down his pace so that she could catch up.

"Aren't you excited?" She asked him, her eyes looking up into the sky. "Tomorrow we are going to start the academy. I can't wait."

"Sure," Hitsugaya responded. He had a frown on his face like always.

Hinamori shook her head. "Come on, smile Shiro-chan! I'll race you to that tree!"

"Ha…like you will ever win," Hitsugaya said. He turned to look at Hinamori but she was already running towards the oak tree in front of them.

"Hey! You cheater!" He yelled as he ran to catch up to her.

**End Flashback**

Hitsugaya shook his head and continued walking.

_I wonder what she is doing right now….Hitsugaya thought. _

He opened the door to his classroom and stepped inside.

* * *

**2 hours later….**

**Ring. Ring.**

The lunch bell rang and the students burst out of the classrooms. Hitsugaya was sitting on his desk, staring out at the window. Renji walked over and stood in front of the captain.

"Hey taichou……uh what happened?" Renji said nervously, looking at the captain.

"What happened? I just got a detention……and I have to clean a window that I didn't paint on in the first place," Hitsugaya said staring at Renji. Renji was a little surprised. He thought at least he would receive some sort of hit or at least some anger from the taichou but Hitsugaya looked………he couldn't explain it.

"But, I won't be cleaning the window, will I? Go clean it before lunch ends………..and Abarai, if you mention this to anyone back in Soul Society, I will kill you," Hitsugaya said.

"Yes taichou!" Renji said looking relieved. _Now there's the Hitsugaya-taichou I know._

"There's a closet at the end of the hall with stuff you can use to clean," Ichigo told Renji. Renji nodded and left the room.

"Well, let's go to lunch," Ganju said. Hitsugaya stood up and followed Ganju, Rukia, and Ichigo to the lunchroom.

**30 Minutes Later…**

Rukia, Ganju, and Ichigo were sitting in one of the lunch tables enjoying their lunch. Hitsugaya had gotten his food and gone back to the classroom.

"What's taking him so long?" Rukia suddenly said. Renji still hadn't returned.

"Who? Renji?" Ichigo said. "I don't know. Lunch is going to end soon though."

"I'm going to go look for him," Rukia said getting up from the table. "Throw my lunch away if the bell rings."

"Ok," Ichigo said, biting his sandwich.

Rukia left the two to eat their lunch.

"Hey Ichigo, are you going to ask anyone?" Ganju said.

"To what? The dance?" Ichigo said.

"Yeah," Ganju responded.

"I don't know. Probably. I don't want to stay home while all you guys are out," Ichigo responded.

Ganju nodded.

**In the school…**

Rukia opened the door to the classroom. She found Hitsugaya staring out the window.

"Hitsugaya-taichou! Have you seen Renji?" Rukia asked him.

"Abarai? No, why?" Hitsugaya said turning to look at Rukia.

"He didn't come to lunch and the window he painted isn't clean yet," Rukia said.

"That Abarai...," Hitsugaya said frowning. If Renji wasn't going to clean the window, he was going to have to do it.

"The closet!" Rukia suddenly said. "I'm going to see if he took the cleaning materials." She left the room and headed towards the end of the hallway.

**Lunch…**

**Ring. Ring.**

The bell rang, meaning lunch was over and that it was almost time for classes to start.

"That Rukia," Ichigo said throwing away her remaining lunch.

"Eh…she's probably with Renji and the taichou," Ganju said. They both headed towards class. As they were walking in the halls, Ichigo noticed the window that Renji had painted. It was still covered with the blue words.

_Wasn't Renji going to clean that? Ichigo thought._

**In the classroom…**

"Okay, quiet down while I take attendance," the teacher said. Ichigo looked at the two empty seats to his left.

_Where are they? He thought. _

"Abarai-kun!" the teacher called out. No one responded. "Abarai-kun? Hmm….he was here this morning."

"Kurosaki-kun!"

"Here," Ichigo responded.

"Kuchiki-san!" The teacher called out. Again, no one responded. "She was here today also..."

Ichigo leaned towards Hitsugaya. Maybe he knew where they were.

"Hey Hitsugaya, where's Rukia?" Ichigo asked the taichou.

"It's taichou! Aghh…..I don't know. She was going to go look for Abarai in that closet you told him about," Hitsugaya responded.

_The closet! Why didn't he think to look there? Ichigo thought to himself._

"Hey Sensei! Sensei!" Ichigo called out.

"Yes, Kurosaki-kun," She said, looking at him.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Ichigo said standing up. "I really have to go."

The teacher sighed. "Fine, but go quickly. You have missed a lot of class time, Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo ran out of the classroom and headed towards the end of the hallway.

_They better be there, Ichigo thought._

_

* * *

_**Yay! Finally! Sorry for any mistakes, it's late at night and I really didn't want to read it over again. Not much happened...Tuesday still ain't over. I have two ideas about what's going to happen next but I can't decide which one!!! Oh I'll think of something. Night Nights. R & R.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. So please don't sue me! D

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **Hello! I know I should have updated earlier but my Thanksgiving 'Break' was cancelled…..so I have had no time until now. Sorry this chappie is…weird. Sorry it ook forever.

**Chapter 9:** Why Renji Didn't Wash The Window

Where we last left off...

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Ichigo said standing up. "I really have to go."

The teacher sighed. "Fine, but go quickly. You have missed a lot of class time, Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo ran out of the classroom and headed towards the end of the hallway.

_They better be there, Ichigo thought._

Ichigo ran down the empty hallway until he finally reached the closet door. Ichigo reached out and slowly turned the doorknob. He swung the door open and found Rukia and Renji on the ground………...Rukia holding a small gardening shovel and Renji holding a stick making a hole in the closet wall.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said getting up. "Leave the door open or we'll be locked in again!" Ichigo didn't move.

"See Rukia? I told you we were going to be found soon," Renji said getting up from his spot. He let the stick he had been holding fall to the ground.

"What are you guys doing?" Ichigo practically yelled. He had been too stunned to step inside the closet. The hole in the wall wasn't that huge but it was noticeable. A small cat could have easily fitted in the hole but what surprised him the most was the idea that they thought they could escape from the closet by making a _hole_. It would have taken hours for them to make a hole big enough for the both of them to fit through.

"Oh…that. No one could hear us yelling so plan B was to get out by making a hole. I got the idea from a manga I read. See Ichigo? They are educational," Rukia said looking proud of herself.

"Idiot!" Ichigo said. "Come on! Get out of there already. Sensei thinks I went to the bathroom."

"You didn't?" Renji asked.

"No!" Ichigo yelled. "Let's go."

"Wait, I still have to clean that window," Renji said grabbing a sponge and a bucket of water from one of the closet shelves. Rukia and Renji stepped outside of the closet. Ichigo closed the door and they followed him to the painted window.

"Come on. Let's clean it already," Ichigo said grabbing Renji's sponge. He started scrubbing the window as hard as he could.

"Man, what's wrong with you? You weren't the one stuck in a closet...which smelled like bleach to tell you….and it was cold and there was no food," Renji said as he watched Ichigo wash the window. Ichigo stopped scrubbing and noticed he was the only one cleaning the window…..that and the fact that he was holding the only sponge which meant he was doing ALL of the work.

"Why am I doing this?" Ichigo said throwing the sponge at Renji. Renji caught the yellow sponge and turned to the window.

"How should I know?" Renji said as he started to scrub.

Rukia and Ichigo watched as Renji washed the window. After a moment, Rukia spoke.

"Ichigo, can we go to the store?" Rukia said aloud.

"No," Ichigo responded.

"What? Why?" Rukia said turning to face him.

"Because….I don't feel like going to the store," Ichigo responded without looking at her. He didn't like going to the store with his family...much less with _them._

"I need a new dress Ichigo. All the girls are talking about how their new dresses look and I need one. I can't wear _this_ to the Spring Dance. I'm supposed to fit in remember?" Rukia said.

Now normally Rukia wouldn't say anything about her clothing. She was grateful to have the dresses she had, which originally belonged to Yuzu, but for a dance, she had learned that there was _another_ type of dress that girls usually bought.

"So?" Ichigo responded, "You fit in fine. You don't need to waste _my_ money on some dress that you're probably going to wear once anyway."

"Well, if you had only let me get that job at that drinking place, I wouldn't have to ask you to buy me the dress now would I Ichigo?" Rukia said crossing her arms.

"It was a bar Rukia! A bar! You know what kinds of people visit those everyday?" Ichigo said shouting at her. He had regretted taking her there ever since. They had been looking for his dad and they had entered the bar by mistake. After looking around the place, because his dad really could have been anywhere by that time, the bartender had noticed Rukia and had offered her a job but……….

**Flashback…at the Bar**

"No. She's not interested," Ichigo said, taking Rukia's hand but she slipped away from his grasp.

"Yes. I would like to work here. I need to start making my own money," Rukia told the bartender confidently. He nodded and went to go get an application form.

"Rukia! We are leaving NOW!" Ichigo said grabbing Rukia's hand once more but Rukia pulled away.

"Ichigo, I want this job," Rukia said staring at him coldly. "I need to make money of my own. I can't keep asking you to buy me things so I am getting this job."

"Yeah? Well I DON'T CARE! You are not working _here_ you got that?" Ichigo said.

In the end, Ichigo had dragged Rukia out of the bar…….with bruises and bloody body parts since Rukia _was_ a shinigami after all. They were lucky the police didn't come. The whole bar had watched in amusement as Ichigo dragged Rukia out of the bar. That whole day, Rukia had kept talking about the bar and how one day he was going to regret not letting her get the job.

**End Flashback…**

"Fine," Rukia suddenly said walking away.

"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked her.

"I'm going back to class, BAKA!" Rukia responded, turning around to look at him. She went inside the classroom.

"Damn Rukia," Ichigo said under his breath.

"Now you got her pissed," Renji said, still scrubbing the window.

"What?" Ichigo said turning to look at the red-haired shinigami. "That? She'll forget it later."

"Whatever," Renji said as he finally scrubbed the last spot on the window. As he was scrubbing the window, he recalled how Rukia had found him in the closet.…..

**Flashback…**

Renji hadn't heard Rukia coming. He had been sitting down, with his back against the wall when the door had suddenly opened and Rukia had appeared.

"Renji!" She said walking in oblivious to the door closing behind her.

"Rukia! The door!" Renji yelled but it was too late. The door had already shut with a sickening slam.

"What?" Rukia said turning around.

Renji hit his head against one of the walls. "We are locked in. It won't open from in here."

"What!?!?" Rukia said. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

"That's why I was taking so long," Renji said.

"Great. So what do we do now?" Rukia said sitting down on the cold floor. The closet was rather large for a closet. The walls were a dark gray color and the sidewalls were covered in shelves that contained cleaning supplies. The wall at the end had a sink and next to that was a garbage can.

"Wait till someone comes, I guess," Renji said sitting down on the floor across from Rukia.

"Wait….I think I hear footsteps coming this way," Rukia said putting her ear to the door.

"Really? Start yelling," Renji said moving next to her.

"HELP! SOMEONE GET US OUT OF HERE! WE ARE LOCKED IN!" They both yelled.

"Are they coming?" Renji said turning to look at her.

"Nope. They must have gone a different way," Rukia said sitting back down.

"Damn," Renji said as his stomach let out a growling noise. "And I'm hungry. There's nothing to eat here either. I've looked everywhere."

"I only ate half my lunch," Rukia said. "You were taking too long for someone who just had to clean a window so I left to look for you."

"I never GOT to clean it," Renji muttered.

Rukia closed her eyes as she rested her head against the door. Renji was next to her, his back against the heavy door.

"Hey Rukia," Renji asked.

"Hmm?" Rukia responded.

"You _did_ tell someone you came here right? That way when they notice that you haven't returned, they'll know exactly where you are," Renji said.

Rukia looked at Renji. "I told Ichigo and Ganju that I was going to look for you…….oh Hitsugaya taichou! I told him," Rukia said. "So he should notice."

"Great. It will be centuries before he realizes we are missing," Renji said sarcastically.

"Very funny," Rukia said looking around her. The shelves contained many interesting materials….. a duster, some dirty towels, a small vacuum…and a small gardening shovel!

"Hey! We can use this," Rukia said holding up the small shovel she had found.

"WHAT is that?" Renji said looking at the object.

"I think it's used for gardening but," Rukia said looking around her, "We can use it to make a hole….over there." She pointed at the end wall.

"A hole? Are you outta your mind? How are you going to make a hole in the wall?" Renji said looking at Rukia.

Rukia stood up and walked over to where the sink was. She knelt down and struck the wall with the shovel. A small hole appeared and the wall pieces were coming out.

"See? These walls are so thin, how could you not make a hole? This exact thing happened to Momo from 'Detective Nights' where she was kidnapped and thrown into a closet and she made a hole using only a shovel and-" Rukia explained but she was interrupted by Renji.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me the whole story. So what do I use?" Renji said looking for a shovel like Rukia's.

"How about this?" Rukia said holding up a metal stick she had found on the ground.

"Sure," Renji said as he grabbed it and started to make the small hole in the wall bigger.

**End Flashback**

**Minutes later…after Renji FINALLY finished cleaning the window…..**

Renji and Ichigo had returned to the classroom. They were in Physical Science class, learning about volcanoes and all those other disasters that occurred all over the world.

"Now, I know you guys learned all of this in 5th grade but we have to study this," The teacher was saying.

"Since we already learned this Sensei, could we please NOT have homework during this unit," Keigo asked the teacher.

"Nice try but no. In fact, you guys will be starting a project today," The teacher said. Everyone groaned.

"Come on Sensei! This is pointless."

"Yeah, we shouldn't have to do this."

"I HATE projects!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Zzzzzzzzzzz" (Renji...sleeping.)

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad. Since I am such a nice teacher, I will even let you pick your own partners for this. You may work with _one_ other person. So go and get together with your partners so that I can explain the project," She said.

Everyone got up and started looking for a partner.

Ichigo turned to Rukia. Whenever they had their choice of partners, they usually worked together. It was easier since Rukia lived in his closet, so there was no need to worry about whose house to meet and what date and all those other problems that arise when teamed up with someone else.

"Hey Rukia. Want to work together?" Ichigo asked her. He was surprised when she ignored him and turned to the person next to her………..

"Hey Renji. Do you want to work with me?" Rukia asked him. When she didn't get a response, since he had his head buried in his arms, she poked him….hard. He lifted his head from his desk to look at Rukia. He had taken a nap since he had no clue about what they were learning and really, he couldn't care less.

"What?" He asked yawning.

"Sensei just assigned a project. Do you want to do it together?" Rukia asked him once again.

"Yeah, sure," Renji said.

"Good, but you better do some of the work so pay attention in class," Rukia told him. From past experiences, Rukia ended up doing all the work while Renji did nothing.

"You're still mad Rukia?" Ichigo asked her calmly.

"I'm not speaking to you but I will answer your question...yes," Rukia said, not looking at him.

"Whatever," Ichigo grumbled. "I'll find another partner." He looked around and to his dismay found that everyone else had found a partner. Hitsugaya and Ganju were apparently partners since neither of them had budged from their seats. Tatsuki and Inoue……..Ishida and Keigo (Poor choice on Ishida's part)….Renji and Rukia……..

_Shit, Ichigo thought._

The teacher cleared her throat and started to talk.

"Ok, seems like everyone has found a partner. Now for this project-"

"Sensei," Ichigo interrupted her.

"Yes Kurosaki-kun? What's the problem?" She said looking at him through her small rectangular glasses. Everyday, it seemed that Ichigo Kurosaki had to interrupt her at least once while she was trying to teach.

"I don't have a partner," He said.

"Oh," She said looking around the room. Indeed, Ichigo was the only one who didn't have a partner. The teacher looked at her attendance sheet.

"Ah, Chad isn't here today. That's why it didn't come out even. Okay, Kurosaki-kun, start on the project and when Chad comes back, you can work on it together. I believe he will be returning on Thursday so you won't be working on it by yourself for too long."

"Sure," Ichigo said.

**End of Class…**

**Ring. Ring. Ring.**

The school bell rang and people began making their way towards the door.

"Well, I'll see you later," Hitsugaya said getting up from his desk.

"Where are you going?" Ganju asked the captain.

"Detention," was all Hitsugaya said before he left the room. He still was not too happy about this whole detention thing but it would give him _something_ to do.

"Well let's go home," Ganju said. He was tired from listening to the teacher's 2-hour lecture and all he wanted to do was to go home and sleep.

"Yeah, let's go," Ichigo said.

The four left the school building.

Rukia walked ahead with Renji while Ganju and Ichigo were behind them. They walked until they reached the Pizza Palace Restaurant.

"See you guys later," Renji said as he stopped in front of the restaurant's door.

"Have fun," Ganju said. Renji nodded.

"Do you think they still need people?" Rukia suddenly asked.

Renji turned to look at her. "I don't know. Why don't you-"

"ABARAI-KUN!" Jerry's voice boomed, his head popping out from the main entrance door.

"Ahh yeah I'm here," Renji said staring at his boss.

"Good. Good. Well what are you standing outside for Abarai-kun? We have pizzas to deliver!" Jerry said excitedly.

"Hey, are you still hiring people?" Renji asked him.

"Nope. We are all set and ready to go," Jerry said. That was the reason he was so happy today. He actually had all the workers he needed for once.

"Sorry Rukia," Renji told her.

"It's fine," Rukia said. "Well, see you later Renji." She started walking ahead.

"Yeah. See ya later guys. I'll bring some food when I'm done," Renji said before he entered the restaurant.

Ichigo nodded. They started to walk towards the way Rukia had gone and noticed that she wasn't there anymore.

"Where'd she go?" Ganju asked Ichigo. The only path that led to Ichigo's house directly was straight ahead and there was no one on the street.

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know?"

Ganju didn't say anything after that and they both headed towards the house. When they both arrived, the house was dark.

"Rukia-chan!" Ganju called out as he entered the front hallway.

_Why didn't she turn on the lights? Ganju thought._

"She's not here," Ichigo said. He placed his keys in the wood table next to the door and went inside the living room. He sat down on the couch and turned to look at Ganju, who was still standing behind him.

"Let's watch something," Ichigo said turning on the TV. Ganju reluctantly followed him and sat down.

**5 pm…**

Ichigo and Ganju had been watching TV for about 2 hours now. Whenever a television program ended, they would change it to the next channel. That way they didn't have to argue about what show to watch and which they should watch first.

Ichigo heard the door open and for a second, he hoped it was Rukia but instead Hitsugaya stepped into the living room.

"Hey taichou," Ganju said turning to the captain. "How was your detention?"

Hitsugaya didn't say anything. Ichigo turned to the captain and for a second he thought he saw a little smile forming on the captain's face.

_I've been watching too much television, he thought to himself._

Ichigo had never seen Hitsugaya smile and he doubted that he ever would.

"It was interesting," Hitsugaya said walking out of the room. Ganju turned to look at Ichigo but Ichigo just shrugged.

"Renji's bringing food later," Ichigo said out loud suspecting that the captain must be hungry.

Hitsugaya appeared in front of him.

"When will he get here?" Hitsugaya said. He was rather hungry for his detention didn't include a meal, which he thought it should.

"I don't know. Maybe in an hour," He said. Hitsugaya left the room and went upstairs.

Ichigo and Ganju turned their attention towards the TV.

**6:30 pm…**

"I'm back with food!" Renji yelled as he stepped inside the house.

"Finally!" Ganju said getting up from the couch. All those food commercials he had been watching had made him hungry.

Ichigo, Ganju, and Renji entered the kitchen. The sat down on the kitchen table and started clearing room for the pizza boxes. Hitsugaya appeared, rather sleepy looking, but immediately perked up when he saw his mushroom pizza.

"Hey, where's Rukia?" Renji said noticing that he hadn't heard nor seen her.

"She's not here," Ganju said. "She disappeared after we stopped at the Pizza Palace."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Renji said turning to Ichigo. He knew that Rukia was pissed off at Ichigo but he didn't think she was this angry.

Ichigo stared back at Renji. "Hey, it's not my fault. She can go wherever she wants."

"You-" was all Renji said before someone interrupted him.

"I'm right here Renji," Rukia said.

"Rukia," Renji said turning to look at her.

"I went to Inoue's house," she said grabbing herself a plate from the kitchen cabinets. She walked towards the table where they were eating and grabbed two large slices of pepperoni pizza. Renji, Ganju, and Ichigo looked at her, expecting her to say more but she didn't. Hitsugaya was too busy eating his mushroom pizza to notice that Rukia had arrived.

"I'm going to eat in the living room," was all she said before she left. Renji grabbed his plate and followed her.

**Later…..**

After they had finished eating, Ichigo and Ganju had gone back to watching television. Hitsugaya had gone up to his room to start working on his project. Renji had taken a shower and Rukia was in Ichigo's room. It was a silent afternoon but they still said their "goodnights" and went to bed.

Ichigo was in his bed when he heard it….the familiar sounds of someone throwing up. He quickly got up from his bed and walked into the hallway. He went to the bathroom and….

* * *

Soorry for all spelling errors. So sorry I haven't updated in like a month. Now I gotta go catch the bus but I'm soooo happy I'm done with this chappie. Just 2 more days and I'm free from school. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it.

_Italicized sentences are thoughts._

**Note: **After so long, I'm finally done. Sorry I took forever. I got nothing to do now with finals over so chappie 11 is almost done as well. Yay first for me! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Really helps. Sorry if last chappie was confusing but maybe this will clear things up.

**Chapter 10:** Hitsugaya's "Revenge"

Where we last left off...

**Tuesday Night…..**

After they had finished eating, Ichigo and Ganju had gone back to watching television. Hitsugaya had gone up to his room to start working on his project. Renji had taken a shower and Rukia was in Ichigo's room. It was a silent afternoon but they still said their "goodnights" and went to bed.

Ichigo was in his bed when he heard it….the familiar sounds of someone throwing up. He quickly got up from his bed and walked into the hallway. He went to the bathroom and saw Rukia leaning over the toilet bowl throwing up something while Renji was kneeling next to her with a towel in his hand.

"Rukia!" Ichigo said rushing inside the bathroom.

Ichigo looked inside the toilet bowl and what he saw almost made _him_ throw up. What was worse was the smell, the distinct smell of cheese…………like the cheese on a certain pizza they had just eaten for dinner.

Rukia had finished throwing up and Renji handed her the towel. She took it and wiped her face with it.

"Water," Rukia said.

Renji got up from his spot and turned on the sink. He grabbed one of the small cups on the wall container and filled it with water. He handed Rukia the cup, which she drank eagerly.

The cool water was refreshing as it went down her throat. Rukia had thrown up many times before. She hated the stench of it but what she thought was worse was the nasty taste that was left behind in her mouth.

"Renji….Ichigo….can we please not have pizza anymore?" She said after she had finished drinking her water. She was looking down at the ground. No one had ever seen her like this before. Usually whenever she got sick, she was home alone.

"Yeah. We have been eating way too much pizza," Ichigo said looking guilty.

"Sorry Rukia. This is my fault. I won't bring pizza anymore," Renji said. "So tomorrow, I'll cook us something."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at Renji.

"YOU?" They both said at the same time.

Renji looked at the two. "What? Are you saying that I can't cook?"

"No," Rukia said slowly, "I just never saw you cook something before Renji….but I'm sure it will be eatable."

"Yeah well you better get home early tomorrow. I'm not going to wait till six to eat," Ichigo said.

Rukia nodded. She had to eat something every 3 hours.

"So are you okay now?" Renji said extending his hand out to Rukia.

"Yes, I feel better now. Thank you Renji," She said taking his hand. She got up and turned to Ichigo.

"Sorry I woke you up Ichigo," Rukia said looking at him.

He was surprised. She had not even glanced at him since this morning and now it took him by surprise that she was actually speaking to him.

"It's nothing. So you aren't angry anymore?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Rukia shook her head. "I was never angry _baka_. Anyways, we are going to the mall with Inoue tomorrow to find a dress."

"We?" Ichigo said raising an eyebrow.

"Renji's going to pay. Don't worry," Rukia said. Ichigo looked at Renji who nodded.

"So you coming Ichigo? Ganju and even Hitsugaya-taichou are coming," Renji said.

"What? When did you guys talk about this?" Ichigo asked surprised.

"About 30 minutes ago when you went to your room," Renji said.

Ichigo sighed. There was no way that he was going to let them go to the mall by themselves.

"Fine, I'll go," Ichigo said turning to head back to his room. "I wouldn't want you guys to do something _stupid_."

"Ha like that's going to happen!" Renji said.

"Good night Ichigo," Rukia said.

"Yeah. You guys too," Ichigo said before he disappeared into his room.

"Hey Rukia, how are we going to get to the mall?" Renji asked her. They did not know how to operate a car and Ichigo hadn't received his permit yet.

"Oh. Inoue said she'll take care of it so don't worry," Rukia said heading downstairs.

"Ok, then." Renji replied following her.

It was around midnight when they finally went to sleep. Nobody noticed a small furry stuffed animal walk in through the open living room window……..

**Wednesday……7:30 am**

It was morning and Rukia was barely awake yet. She was on the couch lying on her side with a soft pink blanket covering her body. Suddenly, she got the feeling that something was on her chest. She threw the blanket aside and saw Kon sleeping…….tightly hugging her.

"AAGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

**Upstairs….**

Ichigo was brushing his teeth when he heard Rukia scream.

He went downstairs (still brushing his teeth) and saw Rukia repeatedly stepping on something REALLY hard.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked. The couch was covering his view. He came closer and saw that it was Kon.

"Oh. It's Kon," He said. He had forgotten all about the stuffed animal.

_Great, Ichigo thought to himself. Now there's six of us._

"Why is it wet?" Renji said grabbing Kon by its head. Rukia had stopped stomping on him.

"HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" Kon said trying to hit Renji. "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE SUFFERED!"

"Ugh, but I do know you smell. Where have you been? You smell horrible," Renji said.

"I'm taking a bath," Rukia said walking towards the bathroom.

"You better hurry Rukia. We don't have much time today," Ichigo said. There was a school assembly this morning and everyone was required to be present. Rukia always took forever in the shower and she would punch him if they left without her.

"Hey Ichigo, what do I do with this thing?" Renji asked walking towards him.

"Put him in the washing machine," Ichigo said turning around to head back upstairs to finish brushing his teeth. It was hard to talk with paste in his mouth.

"Ok," Renji said.

"What? No! No! NO!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT! AGGHHH!!!!" Kon yelled as Renji carried him to the laundry room.

After some time they were finally all dressed and ready to go to school. Ichigo locked the front door and they headed towards the school.

**8:15 am…..At School**

The principal was talking in front of the auditorium when they walked in. They were 15 minutes late but there were still some seats in the back.

"Aww….I wanted to sit in the front row," Ganju said taking a seat next to Ichigo. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"Hey Ichigo, why are we here again?" Renji asked him. He was sitting on the other side of Ganju.

"It's that assembly for the dance I was talking about earlier," Ichigo replied. "They do this every year."

"How pointless," Hitsugaya muttered to himself. He was sitting next to Ichigo.

"Hey Ichigo," Renji said.

"What?" Ichigo replied.

"Where's Rukia?" He said.

Ichigo looked around. Sure enough, Rukia was nowhere in sight.

**5 Minutes Earlier….**

"Come on, this way," Ichigo said leading them into the auditorium. Rukia was going to follow when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Miss Kuchiki-san," A woman's voice said.

Rukia turned around and saw Ms. Katakura. She was a tall woman with short black hair and small glasses. She was wearing a red fuzzy sweater with a black skirt. Ms. Katakura was the music teacher and the one who organized the Spring Dance every year.

"Yes?" Rukia said politely. She had never had her as a teacher but she had heard that she was strict and would give you a detention for every little thing you did wrong.

"Come with me Kuchiki-san," Ms. Bell said.

**At the Assembly….**

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, as you all may know, every year we pick a couple to start off the Spring Dance. They dance the first dance and this is a tradition we have had in our school ever since the Spring Dance started. This year, with a little help from one of our fellow students, we have picked the best couple to start this year's Spring Dance. So, allow me to present Kuchiki Rukia!" The principal said.

"WHAT!" Renji shouted but no one heard it since everyone was clapping. Ichigo and Ganju looked surprised…and confused. Hitsugaya had an amused look on his face.

_Did that guy just say "couple"…Renji thought._

Rukia appeared from behind the principal. She got in front of the stage and smiled at everyone.

_Why me? She thought. Besides, I can't….._

Rukia turned to the principal who was standing to the side of her.

"And her Spring Dance partner is…..Abarai Renji! Come down here Abarai-kun," The principal said on the microphone.

Ichigo started to laugh along with Ganju. Hitsugaya _smiled_.

"What!!! Did you arrange this? Were you the "student" who helped?" Renji stood up looking at Ichigo. A few students closest to them stared.

"No, why would I talk to the principal about that?" Ichigo said, trying hard not to laugh. Renji turned to Hitsugaya. Ganju looked too surprised to have done it.

"Taichou, you did this?" Renji said looking at the white-haired captain.

"I told you, didn't I Abarai? This is what you deserve for setting me up in that "date." You think making you wash the window was enough punishment? Besides, I didn't think the principal would _actually_ take my advice," Hitsugaya said calmly looking at Renji.

"Abarai-kun!" The principal repeated.

Renji walked past Hitsugaya and started heading down towards the stage.

_I can't believe this, Renji thought. He knows I can't…the bastard._

"When did you talk to the principal about them?" Ichigo asked Hitsugaya.

"Yesterday….after my detention," Hitsugaya said.

**Flashback…**

"Hitsugaya-kun? What are you doing here?" The principal said when he saw Hitsugaya enter his office.

"I came to return the signed form," Hitsugaya said handing the principal the paper. "Your secretary told me you were here so I decided to return it today instead of tomorrow morning."

"Ah yes. Thank you Hitsugaya-kun," He said taking the signed form and putting it to the side of his desk, which was currently filled, with tons of papers.

"If I may ask, why do you have so many documents sir?" Hitsugaya said looking at the cluttered desk.

"Ah. You probably have heard of the Spring Dance right?" The principal said looking at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya nodded while the principal started explaining.

"Every year we pick a couple to start off the dance but let me tell you it cannot be any couple. Grades, attendance, and all that kind of thing decides who we should pick. This year however, we have found out that there are no new couples that are eligible so I'm trying to find a student that meets the qualifications and hope that they have a partner for the dance."

"Really?" Hitsugaya said, an idea forming into his head. "Well I know _exactly_ who should you pick……."

**End Flashback**

Renji had finally reached the stage. He climbed the small stairs in front of the stage and joined Rukia.

"Renji," Rukia said, not looking at him. She suspected that maybe he knew something about why they were currently standing in front of the whole student body.

"Hitsugaya-taichou," Renji muttered under his breath. Before Rukia could say anything, the principal started talking.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, let's give these two a final round of applause," He said. The student body clapped and whistled louder than before. Renji and Rukia's faces were turning a light shade of pink.

"This concludes our Spring Dance assembly. Return to your classes and have a good day everyone," The principal said. He left the stage and the students began to head towards their classes.

"Renji," Rukia said turning to red haired shinigami.

"Rukia," Renji said looking at her.

"**I don't know how to dance!"** They both said at the same time.

* * *

Ahahahahahahaha yeah they don't know because I really can't see them as being excellent dancers. Hope you enjoy and review! 


	11. Chapter 11

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**:_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it.

_Italicized sentences are thoughts_

**Note: **Aggg so sorry it took forever to update!!!!! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!!!!!! Your reviews not only made me continue with this fic, but I have thought of some good ideas just by reading them. I don't know how that works but yeah, thanks a bunch!!!!! And I will apologize in advance as for I have no clue how you slow dance or what dresses look like, so I'm sorry if my descriptions aren't accurate or confusing. Ok, now that this long note is over, here's chappie 11.

**Chapter 11:** Short Dancing Lessons and the trip to the Mall

_Where we last left off…_

"This concludes our Spring Dance assembly. Return to your classes and have a good day everyone," The principal said. He left the stage and the students began to head towards their classes.

"Renji," Rukia said turning to red haired shinigami.

"Rukia," Renji said looking at her.

"I don't know how to dance!" They both said at the same time.

**Minutes Later…..**

"What are we going to do Rukia?" Renji said as they were walking back to class. The school hallway was empty since they had been the last ones to leave the auditorium.

Rukia stayed quiet. She continued walking alongside Renji and suddenly she stopped.

"Rukia?" Renji said, turning to look at her.

"We are going to learn how to dance Renji," Rukia said confidently. "We are going to have to dance in front of the whole school."

"But we only have 2 days," Renji replied.

_We've never danced in our lives, he thought._

"I know. Start looking for someone who knows how to dance," Rukia said. She continued walking and Renji followed her.

They entered the classroom and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Renji and Rukia quickly took their seats before they could start blushing. No one had ever given them that much attention before and it made them a bit uncomfortable to be in the spotlight.

"So Renji, are you ready for Friday?" Ichigo said grinning when Renji finally took his seat.

"Shut up," Renji said, not looking at Ichigo.

_I wonder if Ichigo knows how to dance? Renji thought._

"Ichigo, do you know how to dance?" Rukia suddenly asked, as if she had known what Renji had been thinking. Ichigo blinked. He looked from Rukia to Renji and then back to Rukia.

"You can't dance?" Ichigo asked them.

_Heh……... He doesn't know how to dance, Renji thought._

"Don't they have dances back in Soul Society?" Ichigo continued.

"No," Renji and Rukia said at the same time.

In reality, there were dances in Soul Society. Rukia and Renji just didn't know about them.

"Well I can't teach you……but Inoue knows," Ichigo said.

"Ahh! Inoue! Why didn't I think of that? Where is she?" Rukia said scanning the room. Inoue was in the front of the classroom talking to one of their classmates. "I'll go ask her right now."

Rukia got up and walked towards Inoue. Ichigo turned to Renji.

"Think you'll be ready in 2 days?"

"I hope so," Renji said looking at Rukia. She was talking to Inoue and then Inoue jumped and hugged her.

_I guess we are going to learn how to dance, Renji thought._

"Okay class, let's all get back to our seats," The teacher said as she walked in. Everyone returned to their assigned seats and opened up their textbooks.

Rukia sat back in her seat and turned to Ichigo.

"Inoue is coming with us after school today and then we'll go to the mall to get the dress," She said. "We're going to learn how to dance first."

"Sure," Ichigo said opening his textbook.

**A couple hours later….**

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The school bell rang, letting everyone know that the school day had finally ended. Ichigo watched as his classmates gathered up their things and left the classroom one by one. Inoue came over to the back of the class where they were all sitting.

"I can't wait to teach you how to dance!" Inoue told Rukia, who had gotten up from her seat.

Rukia smiled. "I hope it's not too hard."

"Don't worry Kuchiki-san! It'll be easy," Inoue said.

"Let's go Ichigo," Rukia said. Ichigo got up from his seat. Renji, Hitsugaya, and Ganju were already heading out the door.

**Walking home…….**

"Hey Renji, what about your job?" Ganju suddenly asked the red-headed shinigami. He had just remembered that Renji worked after school and they had passed the Pizza Palace Restaurant awhile ago.

"Did the manager give you a day off?" Inoue asked.

"Yeah, I asked the old man if I could have the day off today. He agreed but………I have to do the night shift tomorrow," Renji said unhappily.

"The night shift?" Ichigo said. "That place is still open at night?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many people order after 11 pm," Renji said. He knew this because the two guys who worked the night shift always complained about it.

Seriously, who ordered pizza at midnight?

"Hmm…..maybe Kurosaki could help you Abarai," Hitsugaya suggested. Rukia let out a laugh. The idea of Renji and Ichigo delivering pizzas at night was too funny for her. Inoue smiled.

"No way! It's his job, not mine," Ichigo said.

"Ha, you just don't want to do it because you're scared," Renji said grinning.

"Scared? Of what?" Ichigo said shouting. Seriously, sometimes Renji didn't make any sense at all.

"The night shift. Ichigo, you're _scared_," Renji teased him.

Renji realized that if he could get Ichigo to help, the job will be done quicker and then he could go to sleep faster. Also, he really didn't want to work the night shift all by himself but he wasn't going to admit that.

"Fine, I'll help you with your stupid job," Ichigo said.

"It's not stupid," Renji said.

"Yeah it is," Ichigo responded.

"No, you're the one who's stupid, you stupid."

"You are the only one here who is stupid."

"Shut up," Hitsugaya interrupted. "Really, you sound like a couple of fighting children."

_I can't wait to return to Soul Society, Hitsugaya thought. Byakuya, you will pay for this._

"Whatever," Ichigo and Renji said at the same time. They had finally arrived at the house. Ichigo unlocked the door with his key and everyone went inside.

The house looked fairly clean. Rukia went into the living room and noticed little bubbles floating around the room.

"Ichigo, what did you do?" She said. Ichigo went into the living room and stared at the bubbles. More and more were appearing. They were coming from the laundry room which was right next to the living room.

Rukia went to open the laundry room door and POOF! Bubbles burst out everywhere.

"RENJI!" Ichigo shouted as he popped out of the bubble mountain that was created. It looked like it had snowed inside his home.

The living room was covered in bubbles. Ichigo went over to the washing machine. He opened the door and there was Kon………….all wet and covered in more soap bubbles.

"NEE-SAN!" Kon yelled, jumping into the mountain of bubbles. Rukia pushed some bubbles aside and saw Kon flying towards her.

SMACK!

She caught Kon by the head and handed him over to Ichigo.

"Renji, what did you do?" Ichigo asked holding up Kon so that Renji could see. Renji had been the one that had put him in the washing machine.

"I just put the soap in like Rukia said," Renji said. "This isn't my fault, stupid."

Ichigo turned to Rukia who was busy trying to push bubbles aside. She was small so the bubbles kept covering her up. It was a complete mess.

"Why are you looking at me Ichigo? You always put soap when you wash the clothes," Rukia said. "This is not _my_ fault."

"Yeah it is. I only use one cup of soap, NOT THE WHOLE FREAKING CONTAINER!" Ichigo yelled.

"Here, we'll help you clean up," Inoue said, getting a handful of bubbles in her hands.

"Let's put them in the sink," Rukia suggested. They all agreed and started working.

For the next 20 minutes, Renji, Ichigo, Rukia, Inoue and Ganju grabbed handfuls of bubbles and placed them in all the sinks all over the house. Hitsugaya had suddenly vanished but they were all too busy cleaning to notice.

Finally, the place looked normal again. Ichigo had washed Kon in the sink and had put him outside to dry.

"Can you teach us how to dance Inoue?" Rukia asked when they were done.

"Sure," Inoue said cheerfully. "Let's rearrange the furniture so we have more room to use."

Renji and Ichigo moved the tables and couches until there was a big enough square in the middle of the living room.

"Ok, the first dance is always a slow kind of dance. This is really the only one you need to know," Inoue said. Rukia nodded.

"So what do we do?" Renji asked.

"Abarai-kun, you must take Rukia's hand and lead her to the center of the floor," Inoue said. She waited for them to move but Renji just stared at her blankly. Ganju was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Wait…...you mean right now?" Renji said, noticing that no one had said anything.

"Duh," Ichigo said grinning.

"Shut up," Renji said.

"Yes Abarai-kun. Let's practice so that on Friday you and Kuchiki-san will know exactly what to do," Inoue said.

Renji took Rukia's hand and walked over to the center of living room. He noticed that Ichigo and Ganju were staring at them. Renji suddenly realized that Hitsugaya had left but he didn't say anything. It was a good thing that the taichou wasn't here.

"Don't you guys have something else to do?" Renji said irritated. He didn't want to dance in front of Ichigo and Ganju.

"Nope," Ganju said.

"Everyone in school will be staring at you so you better get used to it now," Ichigo said crossing his arms and leaning against a wall.

"Fine," Renji muttered.

"Ok, now Kuchiki-san put your arms around Abarai-kun's neck," Inoue said. Ichigo turned to look at Rukia.

Rukia slowly raised her arms and placed them around Renji's neck. She was a bit short but with her high heels, it would be perfect on the day of the dance.

"Good, now Abarai-kun place your arms around Kuchiki-san's waist," Inoue said. Renji blinked. Rukia started to turn a light shade of pink.

He, like Rukia, slowly moved his arms so that both of them were resting on her hips. Renji and Rukia were looking at anywhere else but each other.

"Ok, now for the music. I brought with me a CD with some songs. We'll practice the song they used last year," Inoue said taking out a blue disc from her purse.

"Here, I'll put it in Inoue," Ichigo said. Inoue handed the CD to Ichigo who placed it in the stereo system.

The music began to start. Rukia was surprised at how quiet and slow the music was.

_What kind of dance is this? She thought._

Inoue turned to Rukia and Renji, who by this time were as red as cherries. They were both looking down at their feet.

"Kuchiki-san! Abarai-kun! You can't dance like that," Inoue said.

This caught their attention for Rukia and Renji looked up to look at Inoue.

"What do you mean? We did exactly what you told us," Renji said confused.

"No, I mean you two are just looking down at the floor. You have to look at each other," Inoue said.

"Fine," Renji and Rukia said at the same time. They turned away from Inoue and looked at each other. Renji said, a grin spreading across his face.

"What?" Rukia said staring at him.

_Why is he grinning? She thought._

"You have bubbles in your hair," Renji said laughing.

"Renji…….you have bubbles too," Rukia said looking at his hair which was covered in bubbles. They had been trying so hard to not look at each other that they had not realized the bubbles that covered their hair.

"This is great!" Inoue said looking at the two. "Now we just need to dance. It's so easy, all you do is move from side to side. Abarai-kun, you lead."

"Where do I move?" Renji asked her.

"Anywhere. You have all this space to use. Just listen to the song and go with the flow," Inoue said happily.

Renji moved to the right and Rukia, who wasn't prepared, almost tripped over his feet.

"Kuchiki-san, follow Abarai-kun. If he moves one way, then you move in the same direction as well," Inoue said.

"Ok," Rukia said, "Let's try again." Renji nodded.

He swayed to the left this time and Rukia followed. Then he swayed to the right. They started dancing around the space they had in the living room. The music seemed to grow louder as they danced around and around. It was a miracle they didn't bump into anything. Finally the music came to a stop. Rukia and Renji let go of each other and looked at Inoue for approval.

"That was beautiful!" Inoue said. She went over to Rukia and gave her a hug. Rukia hugged her friend back. It really had been beautiful. She had felt so carefree and happy……..without any worries at all.

Renji looked over at Ichigo.

"Nice job Renji," Ichigo said grinning.

"Thanks," Renji said. He was surprised that he had actually enjoyed the dancing.

"Are we leaving now?" A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and saw Hitsugaya wearing normal, plain human clothes.

_Now he shows up, Renji thought._

"Yes, let's go!" Inoue said. "The bus will leave soon." Everyone nodded and started heading out the door.

**Outside the mall….20 minutes later…….**

"Wow, the doors open by themselves!" Ganju said observing how the automatic front doors would open whenever a person was nearby. They were heading towards the mall which was a huge building made out of glass and brick. People were entering and leaving the store and cars kept passing by.

"Ah Ganju, don't you have doors like that in soul society?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, but I never thought humans would be smart enough to invent them," Ganju replied. He then realized what he had said and looked at Ichigo. "No offense."

"Whatever," Ichigo replied. They entered the mall and stopped when their eyes took in what was inside.

"Man, there are so many things here!" Renji said looking at all the displays of shoes, clothing, toys, and appliances. Adults and children were everywhere, talking and shopping. Some people had turned to look at them but then went on with what they had been doing.

"Matsumoto would love this place," Hitsugaya said looking around. There were a few teens at the mall. Since it was a school night, it wasn't surprising that they didn't recognize anyone from school.

"Let's go look at the dresses!" Inoue said.

"Do you know where they are?" Rukia asked. She had been here before, but she didn't know the mall well enough to know where everything was.

"Yes, it's in the middle of the store on the top floor. I always used to come here with my brother," Inoue said.

Everyone followed her as she led them deeper into the mall.

Hitsugaya noticed that the further they went into the store, the more things seemed to appear. Ganju and Renji kept touching whatever was closest to them as they walked on by and Ichigo walked behind them to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

Finally, they had reached the middle of the mall. Here, the ceiling was shaped like a dome and there were escalators leading downstairs. Restaurants and all kinds of stores where all over the place.

"There it is!" Inoue said excitedly, pointing to a store nearby. "Come on, Kuchiki-san!" She grabbed Rukia's hand and led her inside a store that was filled with dresses. The guys followed after them.

Inoue started looking at the dresses on the clothes rack.

"Here, I'll pull some out that are your size and you decide, okay Kuchiki-san?" Inoue said.

Rukia nodded.

"How about this one?" Inoue said, holding up a bright red dress. It was long and had thin spaghetti straps but above all it was bright.

"Too red," Renji said. Rukia nodded in agreement.

Inoue put the dress back and took out another one soon after.

"How about this one?" She said, holding a black dress with a very low V-neck.

"Yeah, that one's nice," Renji said. Ichigo grinned.

Rukia turned to look at them. "No," She told Inoue.

Inoue nodded and returned the dress back.

"After this, we have to find a nice shirt and pants for Abarai-kun," Inoue said while she was searching for another dress.

"That's true," Rukia said. "Hitsugaya-taichou is also going to need one." They turned to look at Hitsugaya, who was leaning against the wall.

"So that's why you're here," Ichigo said.

_He also has a date, he thought._

"Shut up," Hitsugaya said.

"Ah, I got it!" Inoue said cheerfully, "How about this one Kuchiki-san?" She was holding up a nice, light blue dress.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Rukia said, touching the dress.

"Do you want to try it on?" Inoue asked her. "The dressing room is right here."

"Yes, I think I will try it on," Rukia said, getting the dress.

"Ok," Inoue said. Rukia went into one of the dressing rooms.

* * *

**7 minutes later……..**

"Hey Rukia, are you done?" Renji called out. "I'm getting hungry."

"Same here," Ganju said.

"Uh……" Rukia said from behind the white door.

"Do you need help, Kuchiki-san?" Inoue asked.

"No, I'm fine. I just don't know about this dress," Rukia said.

"Oh, I'm sure it looks fine on you Kuchiki-san! Come out so that we can see you," Inoue said.

"Fine, tell me what you think," Rukia said.

The white door opened and out stepped Rukia. She was wearing a strapless, sparkly, light blue dress that spread out at the bottom. Her small shoulders were being covered by a see through shawl, the same color as the dress. It was a simple dress yet pretty.

Everyone stared at her.

Rukia noticed that they weren't saying anything and said, "I get it. I get it. I'll take it off."

"No," Renji blurted out. "It's great. The dress. You look…..really nice."

"Really?" Rukia said. She looked at Inoue who was smiling.

"I think you should get it," Inoue said.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed. "It's nice."

Ganju nodded. Hitsugaya didn't say anything.

"Ok. I'll get it," Rukia said. "Let me go change." She went back into the dressing room.

After she was done, they went to the cash register where Renji paid for the dress. They left the store and started walking when Ganju, who was in front of everyone, stopped.

"Hey guys! Let's get on that thing," Ganju said pointing at...

* * *

Ahh I'm done!! Another weird chappie...but it's done. Chappie 12 will be out soon. One of the reasons I took forever on this chappie was b/c I was stuck. I had different ideas and then I just gave up but I know what's going to happen on chappie 12 which will be a longer chappie b/c it will be a long day for them. Well hope you ahhh understood it hehehehehe and feel free to review! Night night, I'm going to bed. Jez 


	12. Chapter 12

**Soul Society and the Living World**

_By: Ryou's 01 Fan_

_**Disclaimer**_ I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it. I also do not own M&M's and a bunch of other things mentioned in this chapter.

_Italicized words are thoughts._

**Note: **As usual I can never seem to update fast enough! I'm sorry. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! They make my day when I am at school and bored to death. Anyways, here's chappie 12! Hope you like the……uh unexpectedness ahahahahahaha.

**Chapter 12:** The Trip to the Mall Part II

_Where we last left off…_

"Ok. I'll get it," Rukia said. "Let me go change." She went back into the dressing room.

After she was done, they went to the cash register where Renji paid for the dress. They left the store and started walking when Ganju, who was in front of everyone, stopped.

"Hey guys! Let's get on that thing," Ganju said pointing at the glass elevator up ahead.

Ichigo sighed. He knew that sooner or later, one of them would want to ride the elevator and he wasn't surprised that Ganju had been the first to discover it. He remembered the first time Rukia had ridden it…..

**Flashback……3 Months Ago**

"Oh look at those," Rukia said pointing to the escalators. "Ichigo! Look at that huge fountain!" Rukia's eyes were wide with excitement. She had never been to a human's mall before and everywhere they turned, it seemed like there was always something new and interesting to admire.

Ichigo was ready to go home but not Rukia, no. She had insisted that they come to the mall so that she could look for her 'job.' Since she couldn't work at a bar, she decided she would work at the mall.

Instead of looking for a job, however, Rukia and Ichigo had spent the last 2 hours roaming around the mall and going into every store. Rukia wanted to discover every inch of the mall.

"Hey Ichigo….let's get on that!" Rukia said suddenly. She had stopped walking.

Ichigo didn't have to look to know what she was talking about. He already knew. The glass elevator. He didn't know why people made such a fuss about it…..it was just an elevator but he guessed there probably weren't any back in Soul Society.

"Fine, we'll get on it but only if we leave right after," Ichigo said. His feet were tired and he felt like he had seen enough clothes and stuffed animals to last him a lifetime. Ichigo looked over at Rukia.

"Ok," Rukia responded. "We'll leave right after we ride it." She looked at Ichigo.

"Ok. Then let's get it over with because I am sick of this place," Ichigo said. His feet didn't want to move but he forced himself to walk.

_We should have gone to the other mall, Ichigo thought. That one has fewer stores._

Rukia started running towards the elevator. She pushed the green button and turned around to see where Ichigo was. She didn't want to ride the elevator by herself.

"Come on baka! It's going to open!" Rukia called out. Ichigo ran towards the elevator and at that moment, the doors opened.

"See?" Rukia said smugly as they entered the elevator. "You would have missed it, Ichigo."

"Whatever," Ichigo said. "You're the one who wants to ride it and after this we go straight home, okay Rukia."

There was no one else on the elevator. Since they were on the first floor, Ichigo pushed the #2 button. The elevator itself wasn't that big. It was shaped squarely and all of it was completely made out of glass, except for the bottom, which was a white tiled floor.

"There are so many places in here," Rukia said looking outside the glass elevator. "And we went into every single store."

All of the people below them looked like little ants and Rukia hadn't realized how many lights there were in the mall. She really hadn't noticed much after she had discovered the 'Hello Kitty Store.' They had spent the longest time in that store, looking at all the stuffed animals and accessories that the Hello Kitty Store had to offer.

Ichigo nodded at Rukia's comment. He had ridden the elevator many times before; he knew exactly how everything looked from above.

Suddenly, the elevator came to a halt. Rukia almost lost her balance but she managed to grab onto the metal bars that were placed around the inside of the elevator.

_Shit, Ichigo thought. Please don't let it be….._

Rukia turned around and saw a plain, white wall. They had still not reached the second floor.

"Ichigo, why isn't it moving?" Rukia said, staring at the wall through the glass elevator.

Ichigo didn't say anything. He had never been trapped inside an elevator before and the fact that it was happening to him…..well it wasn't doing so well in his brain.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said, starting to get worried. She didn't like the silence one bit.

"I don't know," Ichigo managed to say. "This never happened to me before. It'll probably start moving any second now."

After a moment of silence, Rukia spoke in a whisper.

"Is it going to move now?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it will. Don't worry, they are probably fixing it or whatever right now," Ichigo said, trying to sound calm.

_What if no one noticed? He thought. No, they have to! Come on, it's made out of glass! Come on, just move already!_

"Ichigo, it's not moving," Rukia said, her voice getting louder. "Ichigo!"

She wanted to get out. Now. Rukia felt like the whole elevator was getting smaller and smaller, closing in on her. She felt like she was going to throw up.

"It'll move soon," Ichigo said. "Rukia, just wait okay?" He didn't like the look on her face. She looked like she was going to throw up.

"Ichigo, it's NOT MOVING, YOU BAKA!" Rukia shouted. "Do something!"

Ichigo looked around the elevator. Surely there had to be an emergency phone or a red alarm button somewhere in this elevator.

_Why didn't I think of this before? He thought. We could have been moving by now.  
_

Ichigo couldn't remember seeing any emergency tools but they had to be in here……..somewhere.

Rukia watched Ichigo with curiosity.

"What are you looking for?" Rukia asked, a bit calmer now.

"A small door. There must be a phone or some red button that we can use to call for help," Ichigo responded.

He continued searching the elevator. The only things on the wall were the elevator buttons. No phone, no red button. Rukia helped Ichigo and together they searched every inch of the elevator but no luck. They did not find a thing.

"What do we do now?" Rukia said, looking out the elevator. Ichigo was sitting down on the floor beside her.

"Stupid elevator. How can it not have a phone or something?" Ichigo muttered under his breath. He pushed the #2 button multiple times but no luck. The elevator just wouldn't move. "I guess we'll just have to wait until someone notices us."

"HELP!" Rukia started to yell. She was hitting the glass elevator with both of her fists as hard as she could. "We are stuck! Someone help us!"

Ichigo took a look down below. Most people hadn't noticed that the elevator had stopped but there were a couple of people who were pointing up at them.

_We should have gone to the other mall, Ichigo thought again. There are no elevators there and even if there were, I bet there would be emergency buttons inside them._

Rukia stopped shouting and slid down to the floor next to Ichigo. She hadn't realized how tired she was and her stomach was growling loudly from hunger.

"Here, I still have some candy," Ichigo said, taking out a bag of chocolate M&M's from his jeans pocket. He had grabbed them from his house before Rukia had dragged him outside. It was a good thing that he did, for he did not get a chance to eat breakfast and he guessed Rukia didn't have any either.

Rukia took some from the bag and quickly ate the sweet, colorful circles of chocolate. She rarely ate them since Ichigo would always hide the M&M bags from her. Ichigo loved M&M's.

"Thanks," Rukia said, after she had finished eating the last one.

Ichigo nodded and closed his eyes.

"Ichigo?" Rukia said.

"What?" Ichigo responded.

"I don't think I want to work here anymore," Rukia said.

Ichigo didn't say anything. He was too tired to start another fight with her and besides, he knew why Rukia had changed her mind.

_Stupid elevator, he thought._

"Hello, is everyone okay?" A voice said from above them.

Ichigo and Rukia looked up.

"Hello?" The voice said again.

It was coming from the speakers at the top corners of the elevator.

"Yes! We are here!" Rukia said, standing up.

_Finally, we are saved! Rukia thought. We're going to get out! Yes!_

"Ok good. Don't worry about a thing. The elevator should start moving any second now," The voice said.

"Sure," Ichigo said, getting up from the floor.

_It better move or someone is going to get hurt if we ever get out of here, he thought._

Suddenly, the elevator started moving again.

"Hahahaha!" Rukia said, hitting the glass elevator with the palm of her hand. "It's moving! It's moving! Wooooo!!!! It's moving Ichigo! Ahahahahahaha!"

_That's really the last time I give her M&M's, Ichigo thought as he watched Rukia jump around the elevator._

Finally, the elevator doors opened and they were staring out into the second floor. Rukia ran out of the elevator and started to hug a wall nearby. People that were passing by stared at her but she didn't notice. She was just glad to be out of the elevator.

"Come on, let's go," Ichigo said, dragging Rukia away from the wall. "We're getting out of here."

Rukia nodded in agreement. "I am never getting on that thing again Ichigo."

And she hadn't.

**End Flashback**

"Can we get on it?" Ganju asked Ichigo. Rukia was shaking her head.

"Yeah. Let's get on it!" Renji said. "What's wrong Rukia?" He noticed that Rukia had been shaking her head ever since Ganju had mentioned the elevator.

"Last time I used it, it got stuck," Rukia told him.

"But that was last time. It won't happen this time," Renji said, trying to convince her.

"How do you know Renji? It never got stuck before and the day I use it, it does? No, I'm not riding it," Rukia said, crossing her arms.

"Come on Rukia! It isn't fair that you got to ride it!" Ganju said.

"Don't worry Kuchiki-san. You and I could use the escalators while the rest go on the elevator," Inoue suggested. Rukia nodded her head with approval but Renji shook his head.

"Rukia, nothing is going to happen ok? I'll be right there," Renji said, looking at her. Rukia didn't say anything.

"Renji, just forget it. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't want to. She hasn't ridden it ever since that day," Ichigo said. Every time they had had to change floors, they had used the escalators and in some cases the stairs but never the elevator.

"Come on, let's go," Renji said, taking Rukia's hand. "It'll be fine. I promise."

After a moment, Rukia spoke.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I'll go." Renji grinned.

_It's going to be ok. It's going to be ok. It won't get stuck. It won't get stuck. Think happy thoughts, Kuchiki! Rukia said to herself._

"Are you sure Rukia?" Ichigo asked her. He never thought that she would ever ride the elevator again.

"Yes. It's silly for me to avoid it and it's going to be fine right?" Rukia said looking at Ichigo.

"Yeah, it will be fine," Ichigo said. Rukia nodded and they started walking towards the elevator.

"Hey, where did Hitsugaya-kun go?" Inoue suddenly asked as they were walking. Everyone stopped and looked around. Sure enough, the white haired shinigami had disappeared yet again.

**Meanwhile….. 500 steps away from the group**

Hitsugaya was walking around the mall, glancing at the window displays as he walked on by. The second that Rukia had mentioned the elevator being stuck, he had left the group. There was no way he was going to take the chance of being stuck with all of them inside a small, glass elevator for who knows how long?

_I wonder what Matsumoto is doing? Hitsugaya thought. _He knew that she was probably doing everything except her paperwork.

**Meanwhile in Soul Society - 10th Division Quarters**

Matsumoto was walking around outside, searching for someone to drink with.

"Hey Kira! Kira!" Matsumoto called out as she spotted the blonde-haired shinigami walking towards her direction. He was looking down at the ground.

Kira looked up and saw Matsumoto waving and smiling at him.

_Oh no, He thought. Not again._

He started running away from her. He had gone out with her for a drink and had been scolded later for being drunk while finishing his paperwork.

"Kira! Kira! Come over here! Stop running!" Matsumoto called out, chasing after him.

"I can't drink today Matsumoto! I have paperwork to do! Sorry!" He said, running away faster. Matsumoto stopped.

"Come on," She said to herself. Everyone was busy except her which was a good thing but it wasn't fun with no one else to enjoy it with. She started walking back towards her division headquarters.

_Maybe...I should do my paperwork, she thought._

At that moment, she saw Hisagi walking past her and the idea of doing paperwork flew out of her mind.

"Hey Hisagi!" She called out.

**Back at the mall…..**

Hitsugaya sighed and kept walking by. It was then that he heard the sound of someone crying. He looked around but he couldn't find the source of the sound.

_Great, he thought. I'm starting to lose my mind._

Just then, he noticed the leaves of a nearby plant shake. Hitsugaya walked behind the tall plant and saw a little boy crying.

_Well, I guess I'm not losing my mind, he thought._

He knelt down on one knee beside the little boy, whose face was bright red from crying. He had a red shirt on and some faded blue jeans. He looked around 5 years old.

"Are you lost?" Hitsugaya asked him.

_What a stupid question, he thought to himself. Of course he is lost! I am really losing it here._

The little boy stopped crying and stared at Hitsugaya. He slowly nodded. Hitsugaya sighed.

_Why me? He thought._

"Here, let's go find your parents," Hitsugaya said, standing up. No one paid any attention to them as they started walking. He could have been kidnapping the little boy and no one in the mall would have noticed.

_Humans, Hitsugaya thought._

"What's your name?" Hitsugaya asked the boy as they were walking. Hitsugaya had seen a "Lost and Found" center where he had seen little kids sitting in chairs, waiting patiently for their parents to come pick them up. He didn't know how a parent could lose their child but it was good thing to know that there was a place where your kid could possibly be at.

"My name is Ayato," The little boy said. Hitsugaya nodded.

Although his parents had told him not to talk to strangers, the little boy felt that the guy who was walking beside him wasn't a stranger. He felt that there was something different about the short, white haired guy.

"Who are you?" Ayato asked him. His face was no longer red and his tears had completely vanished. He didn't know where he was being taken but he didn't care anymore. It was better than being alone.

"Hitsugaya," The captain responded. "Well, here it is." Hitsugaya stopped walking and the little boy turned to look at where they were. There was a glass window with the blue words "Lost Children" in big, bold letters and inside were three other children around the same age as Ayato. They were sitting in colorful, chairs looking very sad and very tired.

Hitsugaya walked inside the place with Ayato. A lady dressed in red saw them coming and walked towards them.

"He lost his parents," Hitsugaya said, before she could say anything. He didn't want her to think he was picking up one of the kids in there.

"Aw, don't worry. We'll find your parents," The lady said, smiling down at Ayato. Ayato nodded.

"What is your full name?" She asked him.

"Kagawa Ayato," The little boy responded. The woman nodded and walked behind a white desk to get the phone.

"Ah, thank you for bringing him here," The lady told Hitsugaya. "I'm sure his parents are worried." Hitsugaya nodded and started to walk away.

"Please don't leave me!" Ayato called out behind him.

Hitsugaya stopped and turned around. The woman was smiling at him.

"You could take him for a little walk if you want while we contact his parents," She told him.

Hitsugaya looked at Ayato. Blue tears were starting to form around his eyes and Hitsugaya couldn't say 'no' to that face.

"Let's go then," Hitsugaya said.

Ayato smiled and ran towards the captain. Ayato took Hitsugaya's hand and together they started walking.

**In the elevator…..**

Ichigo pushed the green elevator button and they all waited for it to arrive.

Rukia started to back away from the doors but Renji, who was behind her, stopped her.

"Come on, it'll be alright remember?" He said, grinning down at her.

Rukia slowly nodded. It was easier said than done. At that moment, the elevator doors opened. The people who were inside stepped out and then they entered.

Rukia looked out the glass elevator. Nothing had changed much from last time's view. She noticed the store had added more lights.

"Whoa, this feels so cool!" Ganju said, his hands touching the glass.

"Yeah," Renji said. He had been on better rides but he didn't want to make Ganju feel bad.

"Hey Renji! Isn't that Hitsugaya-taichou?" Rukia said, pointing down below. She completely forgot that they were in the elevator. Renji stood next to her and looked down at where she was pointing.

"Yeah! It is! But…….who is he walking with?" Renji asked, noticing that Hitsugaya wasn't alone.

"Eh, he has a girlfriend?" Ganju said, placing his face as close to the glass window as possible.

"Is it Sakura-chan?" Inoue asked.

"No, it looks like a little boy," Rukia said. They were so far away but she definitely recognized Hitsugaya-taichou.

"I wonder who it is?" Inoue wondered out loud.

"Where?" Ichigo asked. He was curious now. "Where is he? Renji, move your big head!"

"Hey, my head isn't big!" Renji said turning to look at Ichigo.

"Your hair, I mean," Ichigo said. Before they could start fighting, Rukia interrupted them.

"He disappeared," she said.

"What?" Ichigo said, moving Renji aside and looking down below. There was no sign of the white-haired shinigami anywhere.

"Where was he headed to?" Renji asked Rukia.

"Hmm…..it looks like towards the water fountain," Rukia told him

"Water fountain?" Renji asked.

"Yeah, it's big and it's located in the center of the store," Rukia said. "You can throw pennies in there."

"Let's go!" Ganju said. Inoue nodded.

"Did you recognize the person he was with?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

Rukia shook her head. "It was a little boy. Weren't you listening?"

"Umm……excuse me? Are you people done?" A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and realized that the elevator had stopped. They had reached the first floor (the same floor where Hitsugaya was) and there standing outside the elevator were two 12-year old girls…….looking very annoyed.

"Oh, we're sorry," Inoue said stepping out of the elevator. The rest followed her.

"Whatever," the blonde girl said, as she was entering the elevator. Her friend followed after her.

"Hey," Renji called out. "Have a nice ride with the snake in there." Renji pushed the elevator button to close the doors but he still saw the look of horror on both girls' faces.

Ganju turned to Renji. "There was a snake in there?"

Renji shook his head. "No, I made it up." Rukia shook her head.

"Let's go find Hitsugaya-kun," Inoue said. They all agreed and started walking in the direction where Rukia had seen him.

**Ice Cream Place….**

Hitsugaya and Ayato were sitting side by side in front of the Ice Cream store. Hitsugaya had had enough "human" money to buy two vanilla ice cream cones. Ayato was still licking his ice cream slowly while Hitsugaya had finished his a long time ago.

"Thank you," Ayato said, turning to look at Hitsugaya. "I love ice cream!"

Hitsugaya smiled. The child was just too cute. It was hard to believe that his parents had lost him.

_I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a kid, he thought._

"Do you have a favorite flavor?" Ayato asked him.

"Not really," Hitsugaya responded. "To tell you the truth, this was the first time I had an ice cream cone."

"Really?" Ayato said, with big eyes.

"Yes," Hitsugaya said.

"Hey, that's my mommy!" Ayato said suddenly. The Ice Cream store was right across the Lost Children Center. Hitsugaya looked up ahead and saw a tall, dark haired woman talking to the woman who had greeted them.

"Let's go then," Hitsugaya said getting up from the bench. "Let's go show her you are ok."

Ayato nodded. He stood up and followed Hitsugaya towards the Lost Children Center.

"Ayato!" His mother yelled when she saw him coming towards her.

"Mommy!" Ayato yelled back. He ran towards her and hugged her tightly. His mother didn't care that he was getting vanilla ice cream all over her black skirt.

"I was so worried about you!" His mother said, still hugging him tightly. Ayato looked up at his mother.

"I was scared at first because I didn't see you anymore but then someone found me!" He said excitedly. Ayato turned around to look at Hitsugaya only to discover that he was gone.

"Hey, where did he go?" Ayato said. He ran outside of the center and saw the white-haired shinigami, walking away.

"Thank you!" Ayato yelled.

Hitsugaya smiled. He lifted up his left hand and disappeared into the crowd.

**Meanwhile...**

They had finally arrived at the water fountain but Hitsugaya was nowhere in sight.

"Man, this is a big fountain!" Ganju said, looking at the blue water fountain in front of them. On the bottom of the fountain, you could see pennies and quarters.

"Hey, can we throw one?" Renji said.

"I don't have any pennies," Ichigo said.

"I do!" Inoue said, taking out her purse. She opened it up. It was practically full of pennies.

"Ohhh a shiny penny!"

"Hey, that's MY penny!"

"Look at mine!"

"Who's this dude on my penny?"

They all took turns throwing the pennies into the water fountain. In the end, Renji's was the one that went the farthest.

They were all sitting down on the benches nearby when Renji noticed Hitsugaya not to far off. His back was towards them.

"Hey," Renji said. "There he is!" Everyone got up and ran towards him.

"Hello Hitsugaya-taichou!" Renji said, when they had caught up to him.

"What do you want?" Hitsugaya said.

"Where's the person you were walking with?" Renji asked him.

"Person? I was by myself the whole time," Hitsugaya responded. Renji shook his head.

"We saw you when we were inside the elevator. You were walking with a little boy," Renji said.

Hitsugaya smirked. "Prove it."

"What? Come on taichou! Just tell us who it was," Renji said.

"No," Hitsugaya responded. "By the way, don't we need to buy nice clothes for the dance, Abarai? You are going to dance in front of your fellow classmates on Friday."

"I forgot about that!" Inoue said. "Here, there is a men's store nearby." Everyone followed Inoue as she led them into a store.

They walked into the men's store and bought Renji, Ganju, and Hitsugaya their dance clothes, which was really just a white long-sleeved shirt with a black tie and matching black pants.

"Let's go home," Ichigo said, after he had paid for their clothes. "I'm hungry."

Everyone nodded. After they left the mall, the group took a bus back home.

**Inside Ichigo's house….**

"Man, am I tired!" Ganju said when they had finally arrived back at the house. They had walked Inoue home first.

"I'm hungry!" Rukia said walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, I forgot I was going to cook today," Renji said. He looked around the kitchen.

"I'll cook us something!" Rukia offered.

"NO!" Renji, Ganju, and Ichigo called out at the same time.

"What? Why?" Rukia asked them.

"No, well ah….we should do something you know? The mall and the elevator thing must have made you pretty exhausted so ah….we'll cook Rukia. You just go watch TV or something," Renji said, gently pushing her out of the kitchen.

"I'm not tired Renji…….but fine. I'll let you three cook this time. I'll be in the living room in case you need help," Rukia said, walking away from the kitchen.

"Phew," Ganju said, "That was close."

"Sshh," Ichigo said, "She might hear you." Ganju nodded.

"Ok, then. Let's make something," Renji said turning to them.

"What should we do?" Ganju asked Ichigo. Ichigo shrugged.

He opened the refrigerator and realized that he had forgotten about food. Having three extra people in your home meant that the food disappeared faster. He had forgotten about that. The only things inside the refrigerator were a gallon of milk, three eggs, two tomatoes, and a can of soda.

"Awww, we have no food," Ganju said sadly when he took a look inside the refrigerator.

"It's too late to go to the store now. I'll go tomorrow. We'll just have to make something with what we have," Ichigo told them. "What do we have?"

"Uh…..a box of raisins, four crackers, and two cans of chicken soup," Renji said, holding up the things he had found in the pantry.

"I found this!" Ganju said, holding up his discovery.

"Uh Ganju, that's a baseball," Ichigo said staring at the aging ball. It looked like a huge lemon.

"Oh," Ganju said. He put the baseball on the table and sat down.

"What are we going to make?" Renji asked.

**10 Minutes Later…..**

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The small grandfather clock was slowly ticking away in a corner. Ichigo, Renji, and Ganju had been staring at the foods that they had collected and placed on the table. So far, no one had thought of a good idea as to what they should make for dinner.

"Oh I got one!" Ganju suddenly said. Renji and Ichigo looked up hopefully at him.

"Oh wait no……we need ham," Ganju said sadly. Renji shook his head. Ichigo hit his head on the table.

"Hey Ichigo! What are you guys doing?" Rukia called out. Renji got up and stood in front of Rukia, who had been walking towards the kitchen to see what was taking them so long.

"Don't look Rukia! We aren't done!" Renji said, covering her eyes with both of his hands.

"What? Let me see what you are doing! I can help!" Rukia said, trying to pull Renji's hands away from eyes but he was too strong.

"Fine. I'll go," Rukia said unwillingly. "It better taste good Renji!" She turned around and headed towards the living room.

Renji went and sat back down at the table.

"Hey, why don't we just mix everything together?" Ganju said. "It will taste good if we mix things that do taste good."

Renji and Ichigo looked at each other. It could work.

They got up from the table and started working.

**1 hour later….**

"Hey Rukia, we're done!" Renji said as he walked into the living room. Rukia was on the couch, watching a Spanish soap opera. Although Rukia could not understand a word what the actors were saying, she knew that whoever "Julio" was had kidnapped his ex-girlfriend's two children who really were his kids but he didn't know that yet.

"Really?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the television screen. On the screen, Julio was crying. He had just found out that the children he had kidnapped were his own children.

"Yeah," Renji said. "Come on. Let's go eat."

"Ok, I am hungry!" Rukia said. She got up from the couch and followed Renji into the kitchen.

On the kitchen table were four blue bowls of soup. Hitsugaya had walked into the kitchen while they were making dinner and had asked Renji not to make him some because he was not going to eat something that was made by them. This was followed by a spoon fight, which Hitsugaya quickly avoided.

Ganju and Ichigo were sitting next to each other on one side of the table. The soup was a reddish-brown color and bubbles were popping on the surface of it. Rukia and Renji took their seats on the other side of the table.

"It looks……different," Rukia pointed out, staring down at her bowl of soup.

"We didn't have much to work with," Ichigo said. Renji nodded.

Rukia was hungry so she picked up her spoon and………………..

* * *

FINALLY!!! This is the longest chappie I have ever written Although it doesn't seem very long hehehehe...well hope you all enjoyed it. I love the Hello Kitty Store and M&M's and yes, in our mall we have a glass elevator and a water fountain where there are pennies and quarters hehehehe...anyways feel free to review! There are only 29 more days of school for me!!!! Wohoooo! 


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